It’s been 25 years since Neve Campbell first portrayed Sidney Prescott in Scream. She became one of the most well-known final girls in horror history.

Image Credit: JoBlo.com

The franchise, which quickly became a horror classic, now has had five total installments with the fifth film having been released this past January after a ten-year hiatus. The fifth installment brought Campbell back as Sidney Prescott. however this time not as the main protagonist but rather as a brief cameo until the final act.

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Instead, the film set up a new group of friends and centers the story around a new protagonist, Sam Carpenter portrayed by Melissa Barrera who’s the secret daughter of Billy Loomis (Sidney’s ex-boyfriend and one of the original Ghostface killers).

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A sixth installment was greenlit after the success at the box office with the fifth ($140 million). The next movie is set to film this Summer and for the first time ever it is filming in Canada. Up until this point Campbell stated that she would return in this next film but on Monday news broke that she will no longer be reprising the role due to a pay dispute.

The actor said this in a statement to The LA Times  “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.”

She added, “To all my Scream fans, I love you, I’m forever grateful to you and for what this franchise has given me over the past 25 years.”

It’s unclear what writers will do with Sidney’s character in the next movie; whether they will not mention her, kill her off-screen, or just mention her in passing, whatever it may be it won’t feel the same without Neve. While the final girl that started the franchise isn’t returning, there are already several characters that have been confirmed to be returning in the sixth installment.

See the confirmed cast and returning characters below.

Confirmed Scream 6 Cast

Returning from Scream 1-4:

Courtney Cox as Gale Weathers

Gale Weathers is the only confirmed returning character from any of the first three movies. She is a reporter, author, and ex-wife of Dewey Riley. She has had her share of flights with Ghostface and has been shot twice and stabbed once throughout the franchise.

She lost her best friend and the love of her life Dewey Riley in Scream 5. What could Ghostface have in store for her in the upcoming sixth installment?

Hayden Panettiere as Kirby Reed

Kirby’s fate was left unknown in Scream 4 but a hidden easter egg in the fifth installment has seemingly proved that the character survived her battle with GhostFace back in 2011.

Panettiere took a break from acting after Nashville ended in 2018 and reprising this fan favorite is a great comeback. Many speculate that Reed could be the opening kill or perhaps be behind the Ghostface mask. Whatever may come to be of Kirby Reed in this film fans are just happy to have her back, especially if we no longer have Sidney Prescott. 

Returning from Scream 5:

Melissa Barrera as Sam Carpenter

The main protagonist of the latest movie and who will perhaps go on to be the Final Girl of the entire Scream franchise.

Sam Carpenter found out at thirteen that her real father was one half of the original Woodsboro GhostFace, Billy Loomis. After finding out about her father she became a troubled teen and left home once she turned eighteen. After her sister was attacked she returned to Woodsboro and had to accept who she was to beat Ghostface in the end. She will return in the unarmed sequel alongside her sister Tara (Jenna Ortega). 

Jenna Ortega as Tara Carpenter

Jenna Ortega’s Tara Carpenter was the opening kill…well attempted kill. For the first time in Scream history, the opening victim did not actually die. This must have been the way to go because Jenna Ortega just won Most Frightened Performance at the MTV Movie & TV Awards for her opening scene in the movie. Tara proved to be a strong and smart girl which is what helped her and her sister beat the people behind GhostFace and become Final Girls. Tara should be finishing High School in the next installment, will she live to see graduation day?

Jasmine Savoy Brown as Mindy Meeks-Martin

Mindy is the daughter of Martha, twin of Mason, and niece of the late Randy Meeks. Mindy is the first openly LGBT character in the Scream franchise and while she is single, she does love to mingle. She shares a similar taste for horror movies as her uncle once did. She defines the killer’s pattern as a “requel” (A movie that revisits the subject matter of an earlier film but is not a remake or a linear continuation of its plot).

Both she and her brother are attacked by Ghostface and the audience is briefly thought to believe that the twins had succumbed to their wounds but in the end, they are seen to be one of the handful of survivors. Will Mindy suffer the same fate as her uncle Randy did in his second Scream film or will she be the first of the Meeks to survive Ghostface (Aside from Martha) and make it to the trilogy?

Mason Gooding as Chad Meeks-Martin

Every group of friends has to have a jock and in this group that’s Chad Meeks-Martin. The polar opposite of his uncle Randy and twin Mindy, Chad is a football player and was dating Liv McKenzie before she was killed by Ghostface. Chad is seemingly killed by Ghostface while looking for Liv but is seen in the end alive in the back of an ambulance with Mindy. 

New in Scream 6:

Dermont Mulroney as an Unnamed Cop. 

Dermont Mulroney is most famously known for his roles in My Best Friend’s Wedding and the Insidious franchise. He just signed on and is said to be a cop. We all know what usually happens to cops in Scream, but who knows maybe Dermont will one of the lucky ones.

Plot details are being kept under wraps, but according to Paramount, the sixth Scream film “continues with the four survivors of the Ghostface killings as they leave Woodsboro behind and start a fresh chapter.” Lead actress Jenna Ortega said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight the following about the next installment. “Ghostface gets a lot more intimidating, It just gets more and more gory. I think that this is probably the most aggressive and violent version of Ghostface we’ve ever seen, which I think will really be fun to shoot.” Screenwriters James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick will return to compose the script. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett will return to direct. Filming is set to begin this Summer in Canada.

Scream Six is set to slash its way into theaters on March 31st, 2023.