On Thursday, Spyglass and Paramount Pictures announced that Neve Campbell has confirmed that she will reprise her role as Sidney Prescott in Scream 5. The Canadian actress, who played the lead role in the four previous Scream films, which were directed by the late Wes Craven, said that she appreciated the “love, respect and admiration” that Radio Silence Productions had shown for the legacy of the director, who died in 2015.
The horror film, which will be directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, is expected to be a relaunch of the horror series. Campbell, 46, noted in a statement the new film will return to the fictional setting of the first four movies, Woodsboro, California.
David Arquette and Courteney Cox had previously confirmed that they would reprise their roles as Dewey Riley and Gale Weathers. In addition, Jack Quaid, who is currently starring in Amazon’s The Boys, Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega have joined the cast. Kevin Williamson, who wrote the first, second and fourth Scream films, has signed on as executive producer.
In a statement, Radio Silence Productions, known for Ready or Not, V/H/S, Devil's Due, and Southbound, said, “It’s hard to express how much the character Sidney Prescott shaped our love of movies and to have the chance to work with Neve is truly a dream come true.”
The original Scream film grossed over $173 million worldwide after opening in 1996. Praised for its black comedy and self-awareness, the movie was unique for the way in which the characters referred to real-world horror films and discussed the clichés that they often repeated. The last entry in the series, Scream 4, was released in 2011 and took place on the 14th anniversary of the original Woodsboro murders.
Scream 5 will be shot in Wilmington, North Carolina after safety protocols to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic are in place, and is slated for release on January 14, 2022. The new film is unrelated to the current Scream series airing on VH-1.
Source: Variety