Matthew Lillard slams Scream 6 over Neve Campbell pay dispute

13 June 2022, 16:27

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By Sam Prance

Scream 6 will be the first Scream that doesn't star Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott.

Matthew Lillard has addressed Neve Campbell's decision not to star in Scream 6 and called out the people behind the film.

Last week (Jun 6), Neve Campbell revealed that she had declined to return as Sidney Prescott in Scream 6. In a statement to Variety, Neve announced: "Sadly, I won’t be making the next Scream film. As a woman I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to ‘Scream.’ I felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise. It’s been a very difficult decision to move on."

Neve ended the statement by writing: "To all my Scream fans, I love you. You’ve always been so incredibly supportive to me. I’m forever grateful to you and to what this franchise has given me over the past 25 years."

Now, Neve's Scream co-star Matthew Lillard, who played Stu Macher in the original film, has weighed in on Neve's choice.

READ MORE: 17 iconic Scream easter eggs and references we bet you missed in Scream 5

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Matthew said: "Did Tom Cruise take less money for [the Top Gun sequel]? F**k no dude. So why is a woman supposed to take less? Why wouldn't you pay her more as the series goes on? Was Scream 5 a hit or not a hit? It was a smash hit. Did they make a s**t ton of money? Yes."

Matthew added: "Should Neve Campbell be paid for the work she's done in five movies of a franchise? Yes, because she's a female lead of one of the most successful horror franchises." He then said that the entire situation is "infuriating".

Taking to Twitter yesterday (Jun 12), Matthew also wrote: "The fact that Neve Campbell isn’t getting paid her worth is straight-up sexism. I think it’s horrible. There. I said it."

Matthew and Neve's co-star Jamie Kennedy (Randy) also stood up for Neve in a YouTube video. He stated: "Sidney Prescott is the centre of Scream. Neve Campbell is the face of Scream. Ghostface chasing her throughout the whole franchise. The franchise gets rebooted. It's more popular than ever... How can you make Scream without Sidney Prescott?"

Jamie continued: "It's her story, her POV, her pain, everything is her. She's the heroine. It's crazy that the people behind the scenes are not paying money to literally the face of the franchise. It's people who weren't involved from the get-go. This is everything that's wrong with the business."

Scream 6 Without Neve Campbell?

While Neve will not be returning, Scream 6 will see Melissa Barrera (Sam), Jenna Ortega (Tara), Jasmin Savoy Brown (Mindy) and Mason Gooding (Chad) all come back. Original cast member Courteney Cox is also returning as Gale and Scream 4's Hayden Panettiere is reprising the role of Kirby. Filming has begun and the sequel's release date is 31 March 2023.

As it stands, the team behind Scream 6 are yet to address Neve's decision to walk away. We shall keep you informed with any updates.

What do you think? Can you imagine Scream without Sidney?

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