Neve Campbell Gives An Intriguing Update On Scream 5

The first three Scream movies came out back to back, but when a fourth didn't immediately follow, fans of the franchise assumed the disappointing Scream 3 would be the final bloody act for Neve Campbell's scream queen Sidney Prescott. That was, of course, until Scream 4 hit theaters a decade later. The fourth installment not only managed to bring series' stars Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette back into the fold, but it also took the franchise in a new direction and delivered a story that felt like a fresh update while still retaining the vibe of the original movies. Though Scream 4 was followed by talk of two more movies to come, years passed without anything materializing. When series' director Wes Craven passed away in 2015, it seemed like the franchise was at its end.

That is, until it was finally announced that Scream 5 was officially happening. Without Craven to helm the movie, the producers turned to the duo of Matthew Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who made a huge splash in 2019 with their critically acclaimed comedy-thriller Ready or Not (via The Hollywood Reporter). However, there was one important piece of information missing from the announcement: Would Neve Campbell return to reprise her role of Sidney Prescott?

While we still don't have a definitive answer to that question, Campbell recently spoke about being contacted by the directors of Scream 5. What she said is sure to give fans hope that she will indeed return in the next Scream film.

Campbell's possible return to the Scream franchise is thanks to Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett, who reached out personally to the actress to express their interest in including her in the film. In a May 2020 interview with Collider, Campbell described the sincere note she received from the duo: "They wrote a letter to me, expressing what great fans of Wes' work they are, and how honored they are that they're getting the chance to make Scream 5 because the Scream franchise is the reason that they're directors now. So, that was really sweet.

Campbell also expressed admiration for the directing duo's past films, saying, "To be honest, the two directors have made some great work. I've watched their films, and they're really talented." However, she didn't confirm whether or not she was planning on joining the movie just yet. Campbell said she's "not a hundred percent" on joining the film, adding, "We'll see. Hopefully, we can all see eye to eye on everything and make something great, but it's a process."

Getting a "maybe" from Campbell is a big development, especially considering the actress had previously been apprehensive about the idea of doing any other Scream movies for one very sad reason.

While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in May 2020, Campbell revealed that she was reluctant to do another Scream movie after the death of the series' original director, horror legend Wes Craven. "I definitely had a period where I was thinking it would just be too odd to do a movie without Wes, and I wasn't certain that I would want to do that," she explained before adding, "But, I think enough time has passed."

It turns out, the letter Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett sent Campbell may have changed her mind about doing a non-Craven Scream movie. As she told The Hollywood Reporter, "They wrote a letter honoring Wes in such a beautiful way, and they expressed that the reason they make horror movies is because of Wes and the Scream films. They also expressed how blown away they are at the idea of actually getting an opportunity to make one of them and how much they want to honor and respect Wes' vision.

Campbell continued to stress that negotiations were still up in the air — "We're just in the beginning phases of negotiations, and we'll have to see where it goes with COVID and everything," she noted – but her apparently warm relationship with the directors of Scream 5 is definitely a good sign for fans of the franchise who are dying to see Sidney Prescott return for another installment. 

Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett's decision to court Campbell to return is also an indication of another exciting development about the upcoming film.

Even though Scream 5 has been officially announced, no plot details or any other information about the story have been released. Given that so much time has passed since the last installment, which hit theaters in 2011, some fans may be wondering if the movie would be a reboot or spin-off rather than a direct sequel. However, in their attempts to get Campbell to reprise her role as Sidney, the directors are possibly signaling that their planned film will continue the story of the first four films.

Tom Reimann at Collider noted that during their interview, Campbell spoke about continuing Sidney's story. "You can always go further with the journey," said Campbell. Certainly, with Sidney, she comes to some new shift in her life, at the time, and I don't know. We'll see."

Considering we've already gotten a Scream spin-off in the form of the MTV series of the same name, there's no doubt that fans are eager for a proper sequel. While the details are still very much up in the air, as of now, things are looking good for the future of the franchise.