The horror movie community, and the world of Hollywood at large, has been rocked by Spyglass Media’s unprecedented decision to fire Melissa Barrera from Scream 7 due to her comments on the Israel situation on social media.
The decision has been widely criticized by the Scream franchise’s fans, and it’s believed that the cast and crew of the upcoming slasher sequel are just as crushed. In the wake of the news, director Christopher Landon tweeted, in a now-deleted post, “This is my statement: Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.”
Because of this, and the well-known closeness between the cast of the contemporary Scream movies, there is much confusion over whether Jenna Ortega, Barrera’s on-screen sister, will return for Scream 7 or not. Here’s what we know so far.
Is Jenna Ortega leaving Scream 7 in solidarity with Melissa Barrera?
On Nov. 22, 2023, less than 24 hours after Barrera was let go, it was reported by Deadline that Jenna Ortega will not be returning for Scream 7 as Tara Carpenter, the younger sibling of Barrera’s Sam Carpenter, who replaced Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott as the franchise’s lead for 2022’s Scream and 2023’s Scream VI.
Deadline states that sources tell them Ortega was already planning to split from the sequel prior to the strikes. With a script from Scream 7 yet to be handed in, and with Wednesday season 2 due to film in Ireland in summer 2024, scheduling conflicts have been cited as the reason for her exit. However, despite this, much conjecture and speculation continues to spread on social media that the Beetlejuice 2 actress is really stepping away in solidarity with Barrera. Prior to Deadline’s report, various rumors and uncorroborated claims suggested Ortega was looking to get out of her contract for Scream 7 due to her unhappiness with her co-star’s firing.
The same is also being said of Barrera and Ortega’s colleagues, Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding, who are likewise confirmed to return as Mindy and Chad Meeks-Martin, although at this juncture they remain attached. Clearly, director/writer Landon will have to completely change the script to accommodate Barrera’s firing and Ortega’s exit, but if all four leads walked from the picture, Spyglass might be forced to either rethink the project from the ground up or cancel it. Or, as fans would prefer, renege on its decision to let Barrera go.
Social media campaigns such as #justiceformelissabarrera and #boycottscream7 are gaining significant steam, so the loss of a huge draw like Jenna Ortega is yet another stab to the gut for Scream 7.