Neve Campbell is “grateful” to return for ‘Scream 7’ following pay dispute
After announcing her departure from the Scream franchise in 2022 over a pay dispute, Neve Campbell has explained how they persuaded her to return for Scream 7.
Campbell refused to participate in Scream 6, which was a hard decision for the actor, considering the role has been a constant in her life for decades. However, she felt it was necessary not to roll over and accept a lower fee than what she perceived to be her worth.
Although it was bold for Campbell to walk away from the franchise that she’s intrinsically linked to, it was for the benefit of her career and issued a warning to the rest of Hollywood that she wouldn’t be walked over.
She told People in 2022: “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 continued: “And as a woman in this business, I think it’s really important for us to be valued and to fight to be valued. 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.”
The actor then explained how she could not agree to the derisory offer in her “soul” and walked on set with a sense of “feeling undervalued and unfairness”.
After standing her ground, Campbell is set to return for Scream 7 and revealed how negotiations were a breeze this time around compared to the last movie. “I’ve lived with Sidney for 30 years, and I’m really, really grateful to get to go back to it,” she told the same publication.
“When they first approached me [for Scream 7], I thought, ‘I don’t know what respectful looks like to them. We might be in very different places.’ But they started out in a strong place, so that was lovely,” Campbell noted.
“It feels nice to have put that out into the world and to have been listened to and to have made a difference in that way, hope other people get that opportunity too,” she added.
As of yet, no release date has been given for the upcoming Scream movie, but it will be directed by Kevin Williamson, who previously wrote three movies in the franchise’s storied history.