Neve Campbell returning to Scream franchise as Sidney Prescott

Neve Campbell will reprise her role as the perpetually traumatised Sidney Prescott in a new Scream movie, Spyglass and Paramount Pictures announced on Thursday.

Campbell played the lead role of Sidney in the previous four Scream movies directed by the late Wes Craven, starting with the original in 1996.

The new Scream film, which Spyglass and Paramount are characterising as a "relaunch" of the meta-horror series, is being masterminded by the horror filmmaking group Radio Silence, with directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick.

According to a statement from Campbell, the new movie will return to the fictional setting of the original Scream movies, Woodsboro, Calif.

"After spending time speaking with Radio Silence, they have shown such love, respect and admiration for Wes Craven and all that he's created in the 'Scream' franchise," Campbell said in a statement. "I am beyond excited to step back into the role of Sidney Prescott and return to Woodsboro."

David Arquette and Courteney Cox are also reprising their roles as Dewey Riley and Gale Weathers, respectively, and Jack Quaid (The Boys), Melissa Barrera (In The Heights) and Jenna Ortega (You) have joined the cast.

Kevin Williamson, who wrote the first, second and fourth Scream movies, is executive producing, along with Vanderbilt (for Project X Entertainment) and Radio Silence member Chad Villella. Paul Neinstein and William Sherak are producing.

"We're pinching ourselves!" Radio Silence said in a statement. "It's hard to express how much the character Sidney Prescott shaped our love of movies and to have the chance to work with Neve is truly a dream come true. It just wouldn't be a 'Scream' movie without Neve and we're so excited and honoured to join her in Woodsboro."

The original Scream movie was a major box office success, grossing over US$173 million (approx. $239 million) worldwide after opening over the Christmas holiday in 1996, due to its entertaining mix of sly self-aware humour and sharp suspenseful filmmaking.

The killers in each film, who wore a cheap plastic mask based on Edvard Munch's iconic painting The Scream, were always somehow steeped in knowledge of slasher movie history and in one way or another fixated on Campbell's Sidney.

The new Scream movie will shoot in Wilmington, North Carolina, and is slated for release on January 14, 2022.