Scream creator Kevin Williamson hopes Neve Campbell returns to the franchise – The Hollywood Reporter
Scream Creator Kevin Williamson hopes Neve Campbell, who played Sidney Prescott in the hit horror films, will eventually return to the franchise after she exited last year due to salary disputes.
During a recent interview on the Happy horror time PodcastThe writer, producer and director said he “has absolute respect.”[s] “Your opinion,” but he hopes something can be figured out for future films.
“I know exactly where she comes from, I know her well,” Williamson said. “I love and adore her and that’s what she did. It’s right for her. I love everyone involved Scream and all I can say is pay her the money. That’s what I would do, I would give her the money.”
He continued: “I’m sure there’s a number they can agree on that will make them both happy, so hopefully they’ll figure it all out one day.”
Campbell announced in June 2022 that she would not be returning for the then-upcoming sixth sequel due to salary negotiations. Although she said it was a difficult decision, she added in a statement at the time: “As a woman, I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my worth, especially when it comes to this.” Scream. I felt like the offer made to me didn’t reflect the value I brought to the franchise.”
she later said in an interview with People Magazine: “I didn’t feel like what was offered to me matched the value that I bring to this franchise and have been bringing to this franchise for 25 years. And as a woman in this business, I think it’s really important for us to be valued and fight to be valued. I honestly don’t think that if I were a man and had made five installments of a huge blockbuster franchise over 25 years, the number that would be offered to me would be the number that would be offered to a man.”
Williamson wrote the screenplay for the first four Scream films, but James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick took over writing the fifth sequel in 2022. Williamson, who still serves as an executive producer on the franchise, also shared on the podcast what he had planned for Sidney as he continued writing the scripts.
“Scream IV, VAnd VIwould have been [about] “The love story of Sidney Prescott, and it would have been the whole thing of she falls in love, she’s going to get married, it’s all about her marriage when these murders happen again,” he said. “It’s like this man is in love with the murderer again? Is she playing Billy Loomis again? Is she still making the wrong decisions? Is she still choosing the villain?”
Williamson added that Campbell is “absolutely determined” that her character gets a happy ending if she returns and reprises her role as Sidney.
Scream VIwhich was released in March, is currently streaming on Paramount Plus and Scream 7 is currently in work with Christopher Landon Directing.
