Scream 5 needs Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott. With more and more casting information being released about Scream 5 as time passes, it's important to note just how important lead character Sidney Prescott is to the spirit of the series. Written by Kevin Williamson, the original Scream completely re-contextualized what audiences had grown to understand as the slasher genre. Back in the 1990s, the slasher film was reaching a lull with moviegoers and the genre as a whole was slowly approaching a self-assured implosion. However, Wes Craven's signature directorial style and total understanding of the proclivities of the slasher craze helped to elevate an already clever script into self-referential iconography, quickly making Scream one of the wittiest love-letters ever written to the horror genre.
The franchise's last on-screen installment came in 2011 with the quasi-reboot Scream 4, itself a parody and interrogation of Hollywood's obsession with remakes. Since then, the series has lived on through a short-lived MTV television series, one that received three seasons yet never quite managed to replicate the witticism and genuine thrills of the movies. After the sudden death of Wes Craven in 2015, fans weren't sure if the franchise would ever return to the big screen, but shockingly enough a fifth installment was announced back in May.
Written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, Scream 5 will be directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett of Ready or Not fame. Their previous films already showcase an understanding of black humor within high-tension thrillers, a major element of the Scream franchise's continued success. However, for Scream 5 to truly be as good as previous installments, the filmmakers and writers have to understand just how integral Neve Campbell's performance as Sidney Prescott is to the heart of the series.
Scream Has Always Been About Sidney's Story
From the first movie all the way until the end of Scream 4, Sidney Prescott's life has been intimately tied to the events of the franchise. The catalyst for the very first film is the murder of Sidney's mother, an event that has lasting repercussions throughout the entirety of the series. From the moment that Billy Loomis and Stu Macher kill Maureen Prescott and set the events of the first movie into motion, Sidney becomes the spark that lights the stick of dynamite each time, as the initial Woodsboro Murders become a sort of domino effect that lead directly to the events of later installments.
But even beyond the straightforward narrative of the series, Sidney's story drives the thematic weight of the franchise. In the first movie, the death of her mother and the serial killings that drive the plot don't happen because of Sidney; they happen to her. The first film gives Sidney the tools to take her life back from the seemingly uncontrollable forces that have ruined her life thus far, and we see her step into the role of survivor in the final moments of the first movie. This is an arc that persists throughout the series, as the audience watches Sidney slowly learn to overcome her trauma by defeating each incarnation of Ghostface. Not only is each Scream film a slasher movie by way of mystery-thriller, but it's also a continuing story about the nature of trauma and the shaky process to overcoming it.
Legacy Casting Has Ensured Horror Movies' Continued Success
In the last decade, there has been an abundance of horror movie remakes and revivals that have bombarded mainstream audiences. They've all been met with a varied response, but it seems as if the most common factor of success is a reverence and respect for the original films that came before them. Remakes like Child's Play, Black Christmas, and Poltergeist tried too hard to veer away from the spirit of the original, and as a result, they weren't nearly as successful as their predecessors. One of the most maligned remakes in recent memory, A Nightmare On Elm Street, was negatively received by fans because the filmmakers didn't have Robert Englund return to his most famous role. Conversely, a movie like Halloween (2018) thrived because of how authentic it was to the atmosphere of the original, as well as the decision to bring back Jamie Lee Curtis to continue the story of Laurie Strode.
If Scream 5 wants to fall on the successful side of the trend, they'll treat Sidney and the returning cast with the respect that they deserve. These characters survived for four films, it would feel like a slap in the face for the filmmakers to ignore them or sideline them entirely. This isn't to say that new characters shouldn't occupy a prominent role: in a perfect world, the filmmakers would be able to find a way to both respectfully handle the legacy of returning characters while also giving audiences engaging new characters to attach to. However, audiences have frequently shown that they return to franchise films because they care about the characters they've grown to love.
Neve Campbell & Other Crew Have To Carry On Wes Craven's Vision
Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette have been a part of the Scream franchise since the original film released back in 1996. Next to Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven, the returning actors understand the spirit of the franchise and their characters better than anyone else in Hollywood. While the new filmmakers are more than likely super-fans of the franchise, even fans can misrepresent or misinterpret elements of the properties they love. Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson built the DNA of the series from the ground up, so there's always going to be a bit of cognitive dissonance between the original architects and the new blood.
With Wes Craven's unfortunate passing, this means that the responsibility to keep his vision alive now falls to the original cast as well as Kevin Williamson. Neve Campbell's Sidney is the spirit of the franchise, and she naturally worked closely with the director while crafting the headspace for her character. As a result, Campbell has said before on record that she never intended to return to the franchise without Wes Craven's involvement. Now that it is known for sure that Sidney is returning, fans can rest a little bit easier knowing that the project clearly feels respectful of Craven's original vision. While Scream 5 is still a few years away, fans are nevertheless excited to see Sidney return to the big screen, once again be caught up in a mystery that leaves bodies behind at every turn.