Skip to main content

Neve Campbell has confirmed that she won’t be in Scream 6 — or will she? Many fans think she’ll be secretly hiding in plain sight. Paramount Pictures recently dropped the first trailer for the upcoming horror film, prompting fans of the franchise to share theories that Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott will be the new Ghostface in Scream 6.

Scream actor Neve Campbell poses for a photo at the 2020 MTV Movie & TV Awards
Neve Campbell | Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Neve Campbell turned down ‘Scream 6’ due to unfair pay

Campbell has played Scream’s “final girl,” Sidney Prescott, since the first film in 1996. Even when she passed the final girl torch to Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera for Scream 5 last year, Campbell still returned to help their characters fight off the latest iteration of the Ghostface killer. That’s why it was so devastating to hear that Campbell would not return for Scream 6.

Campbell refused to come back for the sixth installment because she wasn’t offered a pay that reflected her value in the Scream franchise. She told Entertainment Tonight that she’s loved being part of the movies, but she had to take a stand.

“As a woman, I think it’s really important that we try to be on par financially with men and I fought for a long time to have that be a part of my life and to get to that place and I really just didn’t feel that what was offered to me really equated to what I bring to these films — the value that I bring to these films and that Sidney brings to these films,” Campbell explained. “The idea of being on set and feeling taken for granted or taken advantage of just seemed impossible for me to endure, to be honest.”

Campbell’s former co-stars, including David Arquette and Matthew Lillard, supported and defended her decision. Scream 6 directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin also expressed disappointment in Campbell’s exit, but they decided to move forward without her. Or did they?

Many fans want Neve Campbell to return in ‘Scream 6’ as Ghostface

Campbell’s exit from the Scream franchise was very public — so public that fans wonder if it’s all a secret stunt. Following the new trailer’s release on Jan. 19, dozens of fans took to Twitter to theorize that “final girl” Sidney Prescott will turn into a killer herself.

“It’s gonna be nuts in #ScreamVI when it turns out the reports that Neve Campbell isn’t in the film due to a pay dispute were actually a red herring and she’s the Ghostface killer in this one,” one fan tweeted.

“If Neve Campbell isn’t #Ghostface …. WE RIOT!!!! or #DeputyDewey … I will accept that also,” another user wrote.

One fan took the theory a step further, explaining that Scream 6 could end the franchise with Sidney being the ultimate killer.

“Lol the best ending to this movie would be if Neve Campbell came back as Ghostface and ended up being the most brutal killer out of them all, and no one survives except Neve and then the series just ends with her being the ultimate final girl,” they tweeted.

Of course, not every Scream fan is on board with this idea. Some responded to the theories with doubt and disapproval.

I’m sad Neve Campbell isn’t in the new Scream movie but the theory of people saying she’s actually Ghostface in this one just makes no sense to me lol. Her being Ghostface would just make no sense and then where exactly would you go from there with her? It would just be so lame,” one fan wrote.

‘Scream 6’ trailer offers a glimpse of the new killer in New York City

Related
‘Scream 6’: Deputy Dewey Done Dirty? – ‘I’m Still So Sad,’ David Arquette Says About Death [Exclusive]

‘Scream 6’: Deputy Dewey Done Dirty? – ‘I’m Still So Sad,’ David Arquette Says About Death [Exclusive]

Here’s What Neve Campbell’s ‘Scream 6’ Exit Means for the Franchise

Kristen Stewart Would Consider Starring in ‘Scream 6’: ‘I Would Read the Script’

Campbell has stepped away from the Scream franchise, but other Scream veterans will return in the new movie. For example, Courteney Cox is back in Scream 6 as Gale Weathers. Hayden Panettiere also reprises her role as Kirby Reed following Kirby’s brush with death in Scream 4. Ortega’s Tara Carpenter, Barrera’s Sam Carpenter, Jasmin Savoy Brown’s Mindy Meeks-Martin, and Mason Gooding’s Chad Meeks-Martin will be the stars of the next battle with Ghostface.

The Scream 6 trailer shows Tara and Sam running from Ghostface in New York City. The killer chases them into a corner store and uses a shotgun. Elsewhere, Gale faces off against Ghostface. Apparently, this killer is unlike anyone fans have seen before.

Scream 6 arrives in theaters on March 10.

Best in Entertainment