Neve Campbell reveals why she was ‘disappointed’ in ‘Scream 5’

She was being blunt.

Longtime “Scream” franchise star Neve Campbell, 50, said she was sad to see David Arquette’s beloved character, Dewey Riley, axed last year in the fifth installment.

“I was so sad about Dewey’s death,” Campbell said earlier this month at Monster-Mania Con. “I thought it was tragic, and I don’t usually like to criticize the writing in these projects.”

She continued, “I was really disappointed in their choice to get rid of David. Dewey’s such a wonderful character, and I think we were all in love with him and I think we all felt pretty sad about that. Which of course is the reason they do it, because it has more impact, but now I miss him. I want to see more of him.”

Campbell reprised her role as perpetually-in-danger Sidney Prescott in 2022’s “Scream” alongside Courteney Cox and Jenna Ortega, but she declined the studio’s salary offer for “Scream VI,” which arrived in theaters in March.

She wasn’t in a rush to watch another scary movie.

“I haven’t watched it until two weeks ago,” Campbell admitted. “I actually thought they did a really good job. I think the cast are really powerful, wonderful actors. I don’t wish these movies ill will. I wanted the movie to be good.”

In August 2022, the “Party of Five” alumna addressed her absence from “Scream VI” after leading the franchise since the first movie premiered in 1996.

“I did not feel that what I was being offered equated to the value that I bring to this franchise, and have brought to this franchise, for 25 years,” she said in a statement to People.

“As a woman in this business, I think it’s really important for us to be valued and to fight to be valued,” she added.

“I honestly don’t believe that if I were a man and had done five installments of a huge blockbuster franchise over 25 years, that the number that I was offered would be the number that would be offered to a man,” Campbell clapped back, underscoring that she felt “undervalued” by the studio.