The unfair offer of "Scream 6" would not have been the same "If I were a man"

Neve Campbell shocked the “Scream” fandom when she announced on June 6 that she would not return for the sixth “Scream” film, making it the first installment in the long-running horror franchise to not be released featured Campbell. The actor said at the time that the offer to star in “Scream 6” didn’t properly “fit” the value she brings to the franchise. Now Campbell told people that she thinks her bid for “Scream 6” wouldn’t have been so low if she had been a man.

“I didn’t think what I was being offered was equivalent to the value that I brought to this franchise and that I’ve been bringing to this franchise for 25 years,” Campbell said. “And as a woman in this business, I think it’s really important for us to be valued and to fight to be valued.”

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Campbell added: “Honestly, I don’t believe that if I was a man and I had directed five episodes of a huge blockbuster franchise in 25 years that the number I would have been offered would be the one that would be given to a man. And in my soul, I just couldn’t do that. I couldn’t walk on set feeling that – feeling undervalued and feeling the injustice, or lack of fairness, around that.

The upcoming “Scream 6” will once again be directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett of Radio Silence, the duo who relaunched the franchise with the fifth installment. That film, simply titled “Scream,” was released in January and grossed $140 million worldwide. Newcomers Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding are all set to reprise their roles from the fifth film. Franchise mainstay Courteney Cox will also return.

In his original statement, Campbell wrote that it was “difficult” to leave the “Scream” franchise and added, “To all my ‘Scream’ fans, I love you. You have always been incredibly supportive. I will be forever grateful to you and what this franchise has given me over the past 25 years.

“I absolutely respect her for that. I think it’s hard to be a woman in this industry and any industry,” said Jasmin Savoy Brown, another Campbell star on “Scream.” Variety shortly after announcing his departure. “If a person, especially a woman, feels she deserves more – whether it’s a work-related financial situation, a relationship, a loss of income – if she can go, I support that.”

“Scream 6” will follow the quartet of survivors from the fifth film as they leave Woodsboro behind and attempt to start a new chapter. Ortega teased the film earlier this summer by calling it the bloodiest “Scream” entry yet.

“Ghostface becomes a lot more intimidating,” Ortega said of the “Scream 6” script. “I just read part of the script, and it’s getting bloodier and bloodier. I think it’s probably the most aggressive and violent version of Ghostface we’ve ever seen, and I think it’s going to be really fun to shoot.

Paramount Pictures has set the release date for “Scream 6” for March 31, 2023.

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