Neve Campbell is returning to the “Scream” franchise as Sidney Prescott. And – quite unexpectedly – Kevin Williamson, who wrote the first, second and fourth installments, will be directing. This is the seventh installment in the franchise that began with Wes Craven’s classic back in 1996.
“Sidney Prescott is coming back!!!! It’s always been such a blast and an honor to get to play Sidney in the ‘Scream’ movies,” Campbell wrote on Instagram. (See below.) “My appreciation for these films and for what they have meant to me, has never waned. I’m very happy and proud to say I’ve been asked, in the most respectful way, to bring Sidney back to the screen and I couldn’t be more thrilled!!!”
Guy Busick is taking over the screenwriting reins as James Vanderbilt, who co-wrote the two previous installments with Busick, is on location directing “Nuremberg.” Vanderbilt will continue to produce alongside his Project X Entertainment partners William Sherak and Paul Neinstein. Vanderbilt also has a story credit on the project.
Radio Silence (the team of directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and producer Chad Villella) will serve as executive producers. Campbell is represented by Gersh, Anonymous Content, and attorneys Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.
This latest “Scream” installment has not exactly gone according to plan. It was intended as a vehicle for Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, who starred in the two previous installments. But Barrera was fired after some pro-Palestinian social media posts (she was more recently seen marching in a Pro-Palestine Sundance protest earlier this year). Following the announcement of Barrera’s dismissal, Ortega too announced that she had exited the project. And Christopher Landon, one of the most exciting voices in modern horror, who had been tapped to direct, also left. In a social media post, Landon said, “It was a dream job that turned into a nightmare.”
Now that Campbell and Williamson on board it seems like the project is picking up steam. This marks Williamson’s first feature directorial effort since “Teaching Mrs. Tingle” back in 1999. If anybody can right the ship, it’s the guy whose brilliant screenplay started it all.
