Neve Campbell Was 'Apprehensive' About 'Scream 5' Without Wes Craven

Among his many outstanding achievements in the field of horror movie excellence, Wes Craven directed all four Scream movies, three of which are really good (that’s a strong hit-to-miss ratio for a horror franchise). Sadly, the A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Last House on the Left filmmaker won’t be back for Scream 5, as he passed away in 2015. Neve Campbell, who plays Sidney Prescott in the slasher series, was originally reluctant to return for a fifth film without Craven, but then new directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett sent her a letter that won her over.

“I’m excited to get back to it. I’m excited to see Courteney and David. Im excited to see this young new cast. I’m excited to work with these new directors,” Campbell said on The Talk. “I had been apprehensive because, you know, our director, 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 that 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.”

Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett directed Ready or Not, one of the more fun horror movies in recent memory, so the meta-franchise is in good hands. Having re-watched all four Scream movies this week, I’m pulling for Matthew Lillard to make a cameo in Scream 5. “But didn’t he…?” you might ask. He did, but if David “Dewey” Arquette can become a redeemed wrestler, anything is possible. Scream 5 comes out on January 14, 2022.