Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott is the final girl for the ages, and it’s difficult to imagine the Scream franchise continuing without her. Yet that’s precisely what’s going to happen after Campbell revealed that she felt undervalued (especially considering what she’s brought to these movies) by the salary offered her for the sixth installment, so she’s leaving the building. Yep, this is what’s happening to the female star of one of the world’s most successful horror franchises. And yes, it’s 2022.
In the aftermath, David Arquette (who portrays the beloved Dewey Riley) made it known that he found (as he related to ComicBook) the situation “kind of unfortunate,” yet “I understand her decision.” A huge void shall be felt, too, and one wonders whether Paramount Pictures will attempt to renegotiate Campbell’s deal. In the meantime, ComicBook updates the situation by checking in on the Midnight Movie Club podcast with Matthew Lillard (who played Stu Macher from the first movie), and Lillard is not happy about this.
As Lillard points out, a studio would never do this to the star of, say, Top Gun: Maverick:
“Did Tom Cruise take less money from Top Gun Maverick? F-ck no dude. So why is a woman supposed to take less? Why wouldn’t you pay her more as the series goes on? And was Scream 5 a hit or not a hit? It was a smash hit. Did they make a sh-t ton of money? Yes. Should Neve Campbell be paid for the work she’s done in five movies of a franchise? Yes, because she’s a female lead of one of the most successful horror franchises.”
ComicBook also points toward Jamie Kennedy’s Hate To Break It To Ya YouTube podcast page, where he says that he’s seen the Scream 6 script, in which Sid “played a heavy part.” While this claim has obviously not been proven, one can imagine that Campbell’s role was a sizable one, not a mere cameo, since she’s digging in her heels and insisting upon fair pay. Whether this affects Scream 6‘s planned March 31, 2023 release date remains to be seen.
Neve Campbell can currently be seen in Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer series and was recently cast in Peacock’s Twisted Metal adaptation.
(Via Comic Book)