Scream 7 writer teases ‘really specific reason' for Neve Campbell's return as Sidney Prescott
After sitting out 2023's 'Scream VI' due to a row over her salary, the 51-year-old actress has reprised her iconic scream-queen role, and 'Scream 7's writer Guy Busick has revealed there is a "really cool reason" why Sidney is back.
In an interview with ComicBook.com, the scribe said: "I don't want to give anything away about the reason ['Scream 7'] had to be a Sidney movie because there's a really cool reason.
"In all these movies, you have to ask, 'Why now? What is the thing 'Scream' is commenting on now?' 'Scream' is always in a conversation with the audience about the state of movies, the state of horror movies and in particular, franchises."
Busick added he had first pitched the idea for Sidney's return to director Kevin Williamson, which he had come up with alongside his 'Scream' and 'Scream VI' co-writer James Vanderbilt.
He explained: "There is a really specific reason why Sidney is in this movie. I will say there is a reason and we were happy with it when we cracked it.
"We went to Neve Campbell and said, 'This is why. This is why Sidney now.' Neve was like, 'Oh, I get that.' I pitched Kevin this first, too.
"He got it and then I pitched the studio. I came up with the story with my co-writer on 5 and 6, James Vanderbilt."
As well as Campbell, 'Scream 7' will see the return of some other series icons, including Courteney Cox's Gale Weathers, Matthew Lillard's Stu Macher, David Arquette's Dewey Riley and Scott Foley's Roman Bridger.
However, Busick admitted the original idea for 'Scream 7' 'was a completely different thing', as it would have focused on the 'Core Four' - the Meeks-Martin twins Chad (Mason Gooding) and Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown), and Carpenter sisters Tara (Jenna Ortega) and Sam (Melissa Barrera).
However, after Ortega and Barrera exited the project - with the latter actress being dismissed by Spyglass Media Group following her controversial comments about the war in Gaza - the 'Scream 7' team "had to start from scratch".
Busick explained: "We weren't able to use what we had in the previous iteration for this one. [We] just had to start from scratch, which was a bummer.
"We were excited about what we had for that movie. We wanted to do one more 'Core Four' movie. We know the fans love those characters. We love those characters. We created those characters. I would love to see, in some universe, the continuation of their characters, in some way. But we weren't able to port over the stuff from the other story.
"It was like, 'Okay, here is what the universe dealt us.' We always wanted to do a Sidney movie and so it was like, 'All right, let's get into it and why now and why this one?'"
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
05-08-2025
- Perth Now
Jamie Lee Curtis explains why making Freakier Friday was harder than Freaky Friday
Freakier Friday was harder to make than Freaky Friday because the sequel focused on two adults instead of an adult and a teenager, Jamie Lee Curtis has said. The 66-year-old actress has returned as Tess Coleman alongside Lindsay Lohan's Anna Coleman for the Disney comedy, and Curtis has now explained that the original 2003 movie - which saw her character swap bodies with her teenage daughter - was easier to make than Freakier Friday due to the 'black-and-white' differences between adults and teenagers. She explained to 'In Freaky Friday, it's really easy - adult, teenager. Adults stand up like this, teenagers slump. It was so black-and-white, so clear. 'In this, it's a much more subtle shift, and we had to find it with words, and language, and body behavior, and mannerisms and stuff. So, that's way more challenging because it's not as easy to think that you're getting it right.' Curtis added the dynamic she has with her step-granddaughter Lily Davies (Sophie Hammons) - with whom she swaps bodies with in Freakier Friday - wasn't something she was used to, and compared it to her experience playing Donna Berzatto in The Bear's second season. She said: 'With Donna, I knew I was getting it right because I know her. I don't know a Lily. I really don't, so it was harder for me to make sure I was actually getting it right.' In Freakier Friday, mother-daughter duo Tess (Curtis) and Anna Coleman (Lohan) find themselves swapping bodies once again - only this time, the chaos spreads to other family members. As Tess navigates life as a grandmother and Anna juggles motherhood, the family scrambles to reverse the mix-up before everything unravels. The movie - which hits cinemas on August 8, 2025 - also stars Chad Michael Murray, Julia Butters, Manny Jacinto and Mark Harmon. Lohan recently admitted she 'never thought' she would star in a Freaky Friday sequel. Reflecting on Freakier Friday, the 39-year-old actress told ELLE magazine: 'I'm excited. It feels surreal. I've never thought I would do a movie where there would be a sequel. 'It's something you don't really think about. And then when you get to do it, and bring a character that you knew so well back to life, in a sense, it's exciting. 'There's a comfort with it that you don't find in a new character. It's evolved. What are they like now? How can we shoot it? 'So it felt really special, and so did doing my first feature back with Disney again after not doing features for such a long time. It's a really nice thing.' The Parent Trap star added making Freakier Friday felt like coming home, and the actress loves the fact that she can 'share' the flick with her husband, Bader Shammas, and their two-year-old son Luai. Lohan - who was 15 when she starred in Freaky Friday - said: 'I weirdly felt like that when I got to the lot. It felt really special, because I was 10 [when I auditioned for The Parent Trap]; now I'm 38. 'And to be back there at this time and have a full life and be able to share it with my husband and my son, it definitely feels unique in a lot of ways, and it's nice.'
Perth Now
25-07-2025
- Perth Now
Five Nights at Freddy's 2 will have ‘a lot more' terrifying animatronics, Josh Hutcherson teases
Five Nights at Freddy's 2 will have 'a lot more animatronics' and 'bigger set pieces', Josh Hutcherson has teased. The 32-year-old actor is set to reprise his role as Mike Schmidt in the upcoming horror sequel - which is based on developer Scott Cawthon's indie horror video game franchise of the same name - and Hutcherson has now said that Five Nights at Freddy's 2 will be scarier than the original 2023 movie. Director Emma Tammi added there would be 'more than three times as many animatronics' in Five Nights at Freddy's 2 when compared to the first flick, and said the upcoming movie would be more action-centred than the original. Speaking on a panel for the film at San Diego Comic-Con, she said: 'There's so much more action in this one ... with the animatronics and that was incredibly exciting. 'I personally have become so invested in [these characters] and it was just an incredible opportunity to continue to get to tell their stories and expand on them.' As well as Hutcherson's Mike Schmidt, Five Nights at Freddy's 2 will see the return of his sister Abby (Piper Rubio), police officer Vanessa Shelley (Elizabeth Lail) and the sinister William Afton (Matthew Lillard). The movie will also introduce Scream star Skeet Ulrich, Mckenna Grace and Wayne Knight. Five Nights at Freddy's 2 will pick up after the events of the first movie, which saw Mike Schmidt (Hutcherson) take on a new night guard job at the reopened Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, only to discover that the animatronics have a life of their own at night. As the nights grow more terrifying, he must uncover the restaurant's dark history to survive. Reflecting on the sequel, Hutcherson detailed the developed relationship Mike shares with his sister Abby, and teased that their bond was 'super strong' in the film. The Hunger Games star said: 'Mike and Abby went through a lot in the first movie, and I think Mike is just wanting to get back to somewhat of a normal life, and he's trying to provide stability for Abby. 'He's trying to find his way in the world. He just wants to have a calm, nice, normal life, but that just can't happen in FNAF. 'He's got all this trauma and stuff that he's lived through in the first film in that story, and he's just trying to fake it till you make it without fully working through all that stuff that happened, and then it happens to him again. Poor Mike!' Looking to the future, Lillard teased a third Five Nights at Freddy's movie could happen if the second movie - which hits screens on December 5, 2025 - is a success. He said: 'If it's a hit, they're gonna make a third movie, and if they make a third movie, I get to kill Mike Schmidt … it's going to be cinematic magic!' Blumhouse Productions boss Jason Blum added: 'If enough people go … we'd be very excited to make a Five Nights at Freddy's 3.'
Perth Now
18-07-2025
- Perth Now
Matt Shakman addresses Star Trek 4: ‘It changed dramatically'
Director Matt Shakman has revealed the fourth Star Trek movie had 'changed dramatically' before he exited the project in August 2022. The 49-year-old filmmaker was due to helm the next instalment in the Star Trek franchise, though had left the movie by the summer of 2022 due to scheduling conflicts with The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Now, Shakman has revealed that his Star Trek movie was already in pre-production before he parted ways with the project. He explained to Variety: 'We had stages, we had crew, we were moving ahead.' However, Shakman admitted that plans for the fourth Star Trek movie had shifted significantly: the crew were let go, the stages were removed and the film 'didn't have a start date anymore'. Meanwhile, good progress on The Fantastic Four: First Steps was being made, and so Shakman dropped out of Star Trek to focus on the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) blockbuster. While the director refused to give any details on what his Star Trek movie would have looked like, Shakman teased the main concept of the film hadn't been changed to his knowledge. He said: 'The core idea, I think, remains the same. I really hope they get a chance to make that movie.' Shakman was announced as the director for the fourth Star Trek film back in 2021, and the movie would have seen the return of Chris Pine's Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto's Spock. While updates on the next Star Trek movie have been slow, Paramount Pictures has confirmed the project is still in development, though has not announced a release date for the film yet. Despite its development difficulties, the cast is still keen to return for another Star Trek movie. Zoe Saldana - who portrayed Nyota Uhura from 2009's Star Trek to 2016's Star Trek Beyond - said she would be 'grateful' if she were given the chance to make another Star Trek film. The 47-year-old actress told 'I just heard they're gearing up to do a new one with a younger, sort of, take on it ... I don't know if it's from the before or the after, but that they really still hope to grab all of us veterans and bring us back for one last round. 'Listen, I know it's a lot to wrangle a whole bunch of people with busy schedules. But working with [director] J.J. Abrams, and for J.J. Abrams at Bad Robot, was always just a wonderful and beautiful experience for me. So, if I get to do that one last time, I would be so grateful.' Meanwhile, Simon Pegg - who played Scotty in the Star Trek trilogy - said he would want to appear in a fourth Star Trek movie, though insisted the film would be 'forever tainted' by the untimely death of Pavel Chekov actor Anton Yelchin, who passed away at the age of 27 in June 2016 following a car accident. Appearing on Katee Sackhoff's podcast The Sackhoff Show, the Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning star said: 'I'd love to do more. Obviously it's been forever tainted because we lost Anton, and that was a really hard thing for everyone involved, and for the real world, let alone anything else. 'If we do come back, if there is another opportunity to come back, then I'd love to. Because as we were saying earlier on, it's a group of guys that I dearly, dearly love and don't get to see very often. It would be good to get back together with them.'
