Director Tyler Gillett Claims Scream VI Works Perfectly Without Sidney Prescott
Hitting theaters in March 2023, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett's "Scream VI" is set to be the bloodiest and most unique one yet — with a new focus on characters from the 2022 "Scream" reboot instead of Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott. The legendary franchise star wound up exiting the film series earlier this year following a dispute over her "Scream VI" contract and pay. Campbell gave a brutally honest explanation for why she turned down the movie in an August 2022 interview.
"I did not feel that what I was being offered equated to the value that I bring to this franchise, and have brought to this franchise, for 25 years," Campbell told People. In a June 2022 statement, the former "Party of Five" star went into more detail about her decision, saying: "As a woman I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to 'Scream.'"
On December 14, Paramount Pictures released the very first teaser trailer for "Scream VI," which ushered in not just a new era for the evolving "Scream" franchise but a completely new setting as well — with directors Nettinelli-Olpin and Gillett taking things to the Big Apple this time around.
"In a city of millions, no one hears you scream," the movie's tagline reads in the trailer. While moving on without Campbell and Sidney Prescott in "Scream VI" will be hard and extremely different for many "Scream" fans, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett both believe it will work out perfectly in the end, with Gillett explaining why in a new interview.
Tyler Gillett feels Scream VI is a perfect time to pass the torch and 'really dig into this new crop of characters'
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, director Tyler Gillett explained that Neve Campbell's departure from the "Scream" movie franchise was something that "greatly" affected the sixth film's script, but at the end of the day, it was ultimately for the best — because now these new characters can thrive.
"We love Neve, and we're huge fans of Sidney Prescott," Gillett said. "But it felt like there's an opportunity to really dig into this new crop of characters, and I think people will be really surprised and pleased with how successfully this movie does that." Despite having one "Scream" flick already under his belt, Gillett told EW that working on the upcoming sixth installment left him constantly stunned and impressed, especially with the cast.
"This movie's been in our lives now for quite a while," Gillett said. "But I think that we are still consistently surprised by how rich and how interesting and deep the relationship is between the four of them in this movie," he concluded.
Campbell, who bowed out from "Scream VI" in June 2022, told fans in a statement at the time that she was "forever grateful" to both them and the horror franchise, saying: "You've always been so incredibly supportive to me. I'm forever grateful to you and to what this franchise has given me over the past 25 years" (via Deadline). "Scream VI" is currently set for a March 31, 2023, release.