The “Scream” franchise is in trouble. Between the firing of reboot star Melissa Barrera over her pro-Palestine social media posts in November, the subsequent departure of co-star Jenna Ortega, and the lack of a director now that Christopher Landon has left the building, the future for the seventh entry in the scream queen all-timer isn’t looking great. The original “Scream” star Neve Campbell did not appear in the sixth movie from Spyglass and Paramount, which opened and closed in spring 2023 to a $168 million total box office, due to pay disputes. Campbell did appear in 2022’s fifth “Scream” film, reprising her role as final girl Sidney Prescott.
IndieWire stopped and chatted with Neve Campbell at this weekend’s BAFTA Tea event in Los Angeles, catching up on her feelings about where the franchise is headed.
“It’s sad to me that they’re struggling at the moment. I would imagine that the people at the top are spinning a little bit, trying to make the right decision,” Campbell told IndieWire on the red carpet at the BAFTA evening. “I think I would imagine people want to do the right thing. I would hope. I love this franchise. I love it for Wes [Craven]. I love it for all the people who’ve been involved and even the newer cast. I would hope it doesn’t fall apart.”
Campbell was at the BAFTA tea in support of her friend and “Party of Five” co-star, Emmy winner Michael A. Goorjian, director/writer/star of Armenia’s shortlisted International Feature Oscar contender “Amerikatsi.”
Asked if she would rejoin the franchise, Campbell said, “Given the right circumstances? Yes. I made a statement several years ago, and it was the reason that I didn’t do the film at the time, and I just really felt the need to stand up and say that I don’t believe I would’ve been treated that way had I been a man carrying a franchise for 25 years, and that still stands. So if they were to choose to come back to me, that would continue to be my takeaway. We’ll see.”
Back in August 2022, Campbell told People, “I honestly don’t believe that if I were a man and had done five installments of a huge blockbuster franchise over 25 years, that the number that I was offered would be the number that would be offered to a man.”
When Spyglass dropped Barrera from the seventh “Scream” film in November 2023, the production company attributed the decision to a “zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.” Not long after, Ortega left the film due allegedly to scheduling conflicts with her Netflix series “Wednesday.” Barrera appeared in the fifth and sixth “Scream” films, as did Ortega. Director Christopher Landon announced his exit from “Scream 7” on December 23 last year, writing on X, “It was a dream job that turned into a nightmare. And my heart did break for everyone involved. Everyone. But it’s time to move on.”
The fifth “Scream” film was directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. They also helmed “Scream 6.” No director to replace their successor, Landon, has been announced for the seventh film, whose fate remains unknown amid the walkouts.
