Sidney Prescott ‘References’ Remain in ‘Scream 6’ After Neve Campbell’s Exit Over Unfair Offer: ‘She’s Missed and Thought Of’

Neve Campbell is not starring in the upcoming sixth “Scream” movie, but Sidney Prescott will still be name-checked in the franchise. Jenna Ortega, who headlined 2022’s “Scream” as Tara Carpenter and is returning for the sixth installment, told Entertainment Tonight that Sidney will be referenced aplenty in the new film despite Campbell walking away from the movie due to a salary offer she said disrespected her value to the long-running horror franchise.

“I feel like I can’t really speak too much on that just because it’s not necessarily my character,” Ortega said when asked about Campbell’s surprise exit. “But I will say there’s so much going on in this next one, that it’s so action-heavy and so gore-heavy that I think you’re gonna be distracted almost.”

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Ortega continued, “But it’s very clear, like, there’s references to Sidney, of course. You know, it’s nice because there’s still a protectiveness in the script and that’s something that the actors had naturally over her because obviously we respect her and we want the best for her. She’s missed and thought of.”

Campbell announced on June 6 that she would not be returning for the sixth “Scream” movie, making it the first installment not to star her. The actor said the offer to star in “Scream 6” did not properly “equate” to the value she brings to the franchise. Campbell later told People that she believed her offer would not have come in so low if she were a man.

“I did not feel that what I was being offered equated to the value that I bring to this franchise, and have brought to this franchise, for 25 years,” Campbell said. “And as a woman in this business, I think it’s really important for us to be valued and to fight to be valued.”

Campbell added, “I honestly don’t believe that if I were a man and had done five installments of a huge blockbuster franchise over 25 years, that the number that I was offered would be the number that would be offered to a man. And in my soul, I just couldn’t do that. I couldn’t walk on set feeling that — feeling undervalued and feeling the unfairness, or lack of fairness, around that.”

Ortega is starring in “Scream 6” alongside Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding, all of whom debuted in the 2022 entry, which grossed $140 million worldwide. Franchise mainstay Courtney Cox is also returning. The movie follows the quartet of survivors from the fifth movie as they leave Woodsboro behind and attempt to start a fresh chapter in New York City. Ortega teased the film earlier this summer by calling it the bloodiest “Scream” entry yet.

Jasmin Savoy Brown told Variety earlier this year that she respected Campbell for walking away from the franchise due to a low offer, adding, “I think that it’s hard to be a woman in this industry and in any industry at all. If any person, but especially any woman, feels that she deserves more — whether that’s a financial situation with work, out of a relationship, out of fill in the blank — if she can walk away, I support that.”

Paramount Pictures has set a March 10, 2023 release date for “Scream 6.”

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