Neve Campbell is back as Sidney Prescott for Scream 5, and that can only mean one thing. Yes, she’s about to get covered in a lot of blood. Final girl Sidney has managed to defeat multiple Ghostfaces over the past 25 years and that usually means she ends the movie smattered with a lot of gore. Now, Campbell promises that’s not going to change with this new entry in the meta horror-comedy franchise, which has just entered production.
While speaking on the latest episode of The Talk, the actress joked about the fun of being covered in blood at her age, but also spoke more sincerely about how excited she is to work with her old co-stars and the film’s new talent as well as how directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett were able to convince her to return.
“Oh you guys, I’m 47 and I’m going to be covered in blood,” Campbell said. “I’m excited to get back to it. I’m excited to see Courtney (Cox) and David (Arquette). I’m excited to see this young new cast. I’m excited to work with these new directors. I had been apprehensive because our incredible director, Wes Craven, passed away and I wasn’t sure about doing a film without him. But the new directors came to me with this beautiful letter, saying they’ve become directors and love film because of these films and because of Wes. And they really want to be true to his story and his journey with these films. So, I was really happy to hear that.”
Campbell held off on signing along the dotted line for a few months there, as she revealed she was in talks to return as Sidney for Scream 5 in May but she wasn’t officially confirmed to be part of the project until September. Clearly, the Ready or Not directors’ vision for the film and passion for the series in general was enough to convince her that they would honor the late, great Wes Craven’s work.
As well as Campbell, Arquette and Cox, Scream 5 will also see Marley Shelton return as Deputy Judy Hicks from Scream 4. Aside from them, the star-studded cast is filled with Scream newbies, ready to be either picked off one by one or revealed to be the killer, including Jack Quaid, Melissa Barrera, Dylan Minnette, Jenna Ortega, Mason Gooding, Kyle Gallner, Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mikey Madison.
Scream 5 had a slightly shaky start, following a few crew members testing positive for COVID-19, but the North Carolina-based production has been going smoothly lately and the film will hit theaters on January 14th, 2022.