feature films. Her availability was limited enough that she was only available for 20 days of filming which resulted in a significantly reduced role for her character and a shift in focus to Cox and Arquette's characters of Gale Weathers and Dewey Riley respectively. When production of Scream 4 was announced, nearly ten years after the last installment of the series, Campbell initially refused offers to reprise her role as Sidney, forcing early script drafts to be written in consideration of her absence while again shifting focus on to Cox and Arquette's roles. However, by September 2009, Campbell was confirmed as reprising her role in the film. Early versions of Williamson's Scream 4 script involved Campbell's character being attacked in the opening, a key point of contention for Bob Weinstein, head of Scream developer Dimension Films, who had it removed. On June 6, 2022, Campbell stated she would not be returning for Scream VI after contract and salary negotiations had stalled with Paramount Pictures; she stated, "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." Reception On her character of Sidney Prescott, Neve Campbell spoke positively, saying she "adored" the character and "She's a fantastic character for any kind of movie." In 1997, the Scream role won Campbell the Saturn Award for Best Actress and an MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance nomination. The following year, she went on to win the 1998 Best Female Performance for Scream 2 and received a second Best Actress nomination from the Saturn Awards, losing to Jodie Foster for Contact (1997). She received a third and final Best Female Performance nomination from MTV in 2000 for the character in Scream 3 but lost to fellow Scream alum Sarah Michelle Gellar for Cruel Intentions (1999). John Muir, author of Wes Craven: The Art of Horror, praised the development of Sidney Prescott in Scream 2 labeling her character, amongst others, "beloved". Roger Ebert, heavily critical of the cast and film of Scream 3, singled out Campbell's role for praise saying "The camera loves her. She could become a really big star and then giggle at clips from this film at her AFI tribute". Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News