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Neve Campbell has shared how sad she was to see her long-standing co-star killed off in the franchise's fifth movie. Campbell, who played the central character Sidney Prescott before deciding not to return to the sixth Scream movie, says she was ultimately disappointed at the choice to axe Dewey.
At the Monster-Mania 2023 Convention, the franchise’s original final girl Neve Campbell opened up about the death of long-running character Dewey. "I was so sad about Dewey’s death. I thought it was tragic and I don’t usually like to criticize the writing in these projects," Campbell explained. "[But] I was really disappointed in their choice to get rid of David. He’s so... I mean 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 cause it has more impact, but now I miss him. I want to see more of him."
Played by David Arquette, Deputy Dwight Riley, otherwise known as Dewey, was with the franchise from the very first movie where he was introduced as Prescott’s best friend's brother. Throughout the saga, he was stabbed nine times, married weather-woman-turned-crime novelist Gale Weathers, and survived four Ghostface massacres before he was shockingly killed in Scream 5.
However, despite Campbell's reaction, it seems that the directors have no regrets about killing off such a well-loved character. In a past interview with GamesRadar+, directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin said that it hurt to kill-off Dewey but they don't think they’ll ever go back on that decision.
"I think you have to watch your heroes die in order to create room for new stories and to watch how that affects the characters," said Gillett. "I think as long as those deaths inform character in a way that is meaningful and significant, then it's worth breaking those eggs, as hard as it is."
As we know the directors kept their word as Dewey did not magically return back to life in Scream 6, and it’s looking likely that he will not return for Scream 7 either.
The entire Scream franchise is available to stream on Paramount Plus right now. For more see our list of upcoming horror movies, or check out our list of the 30 best horror movies to watch now.
