It has been 24 years since the original horror film Scream hit theaters, and star Neve Campbell is totally ready to step back into Sidney Prescott’s constantly terrorized shoes. The 47-year-old actress is among a trio of old favorites who will be reprising their characters, including Courteney Cox‘s reporter Gale Weathers and David Arquette‘s Woodsboro Sheriff Dewey Riley. Not only is Neve looking forward to seeing her old co-stars, she’s just happy to be heading back to a film set after the months-long COVID-19 production shut down earlier in 2020.
“I am leaving soon [and] I am looking forward to getting back to work. It will be the first time since March and I am sure we are all dealing with getting back to work, so I am excited about that,” Neve tells Entertainment Tonight. “I am excited [about] stepping back in Sidney’s shoes and seeing Courteney and David,” she continued, nostalgically adding, “Those movies mean so much to me for my life and career and they are always a blast to do, so it should be fun!” Filming has already began on Scream 5 in Wilmington, NC, the same town that played host to the previous four movies.
Scream became a box office smash when it was released in 1996. The killer Ghostface continued to terrorize Neve’s Sidney and a host of other actors and actresses across three more films, culminating in 2011’s Scream 4. It was Courtney, 56, who broke the news that Scream 5 was really happening, sharing a photo of Ghostface’s creepy white mask to her Instagram account on July 31, 2020 and underneath in bloody red letters wrote, “I can’t wait to see this face again.”
Neve never imagined that a role she took on in her early 20’s would still be around years later in her career, and so anticipated by audiences. “Oh you guys, I’m 47 and I’m going to be covered in blood,” she told the ladies of The Talk on Oct. 14. “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,” she continued. The fresh new faces include Cuba Gooding Jr.‘s son Mason Gooding, 23, 13 Reasons Why‘s Dylan Minnette, 23, and The Leftovers‘ Jasmin Savoy Brown, 26.
Legendary horror director Wes Craven helmed the original Scream and the three subsequent sequels. Sadly he passed away from complications of a brain tumor on August 30, 2015, just a month after turning 76. Relative newcomers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are co-directing Scream 5, and Neve is interested to see what they’ll bring to the franchise.
“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,” she continued on The Talk. “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.” If OG stars Neve, Courteney and David are this confident about how great the new Scream film will be, fans should be so excited for its 2022 release date.