As film and TV production sleeps during the spread of the coronavirus, horror fans are forced to look far into the future for new movies. Fortunately, the future of horror could include the return of slasher heroine Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott.
Wes Craven’s 1996 Scream follows Woodsboro resident Sidney, who is still grieving over the loss of her murdered mother, when a serial killer in a Ghostface mask wreaks bloody havoc on her town. Armed with the knowledge of slasher movie survival tips (mostly thanks to pal Randy, played by Jamie Kennedy) Sidney fights back against Ghostface, and triumphs. In the film’s three subsequent sequels, all directed by horror icon Craven, Sidney copes with her so-called “final girl” status, manages mounting trauma, and unmasks each new villain.
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Most recently, Sidney joined forces with her cousin Jill (Emma Roberts) in 2011’s Scream 4 (though no spoilers on how that family reunion went down) in director Craven’s final film before his death in 2015. A TV series reboot, which ran for three seasons, had all the crazy kills, but lacked any of the OG players, including the original, copyrighted Ghostface. It did, however, add Tyga to the expanded Scream universe.
Earlier this year, reports stated that a new Scream film would be helmed by Radio Silence, aka directors Matthew Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the team behind last year’s Ready or Not. No plot details about the new film were revealed, including whether it would be a sequel or reboot. It left fans to wonder if the franchise’s iconic heroine would be a part of the film. Now, in an interview with YouTuber Jake Hamilton, Campbell, who is currently starring in the film Castle In the Ground, revealed whether she’s involved in the new franchise instalment.
“[The directors have] come to me and we’re having conversations,” Campbell told Hamilton in a new video chat interview for his channel Jake's Takes. “It’s a little hard at the moment because of COVID to know when that’ll happen and hopefully we can see eye to eye on all the elements that have to come into place for it to happen.”
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Campbell admitted that she was initially “really apprehensive” about doing another Scream film following the death of “genius” Craven, but upon talking to Radio Silence and learning they had a “great appreciation” for Craven’s work, she changed her mind.
Film production may be on hold, but fortunately, screenwriting is one thing that can still happen. Will Radio Silence use this time to craft a Scream sequel (or even soft reboot) worthy of a character horror fans have so much love for? It sounds like Scream’s final girl trusts them to do just that.
Check out Campbell's interview below: