A day after Scream VII fired Melissa Barrera, it’s been revealed that the film has also lost its other co-lead.
Deadline first reported on Wednesday (followed by other Hollywood trades THR and Variety) that Jenna Ortega will not be returning for the next Scream movie. According to the various reports, however, it has nothing to do with Barrera’s firing, but is instead due to scheduling conflicts around Season 2 of Ortega’s Netflix hit Wednesday. Per Deadline, Ortega’s exit was discussed prior to the recently resolved actors’ strike.
IGN has reached out to production company Spyglass and Ortega’s reps for comment.
Ortega and Barrera played sisters Tara and Sam Carpenter in 2022’s reboot of the franchise and in this year’s Scream VI. Given how central the two were in both films, it was largely expected that they would continue to lead the series in subsequent installments.
The news broke on Tuesday, however, that Barrera was dropped from Scream VII after a series of comments on social media about the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. The firing was hugely controversial, and director Christopher Landon addressed it in a since-deleted X/Twitter post by saying “Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.”
When news first broke, Variety reported that Barrera was fired over various posts and videos on Instagram over the Israel-Hamas conflict, including one where she described the media’s coverage as one-sided in favor of Israel. A backlash quickly erupted on social media in response to the firing, with some decrying it as part of a new Hollywood blacklist.
For its part, Spyglass responded with the following statement to Variety later on Tuesday: “Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”
With Ortega and Barrera both gone, it’s hard to see what kind of direction Scream VII goes in from here. Little was known about it thus far, other than the fact that Landon would be taking over from the directing duo Radio Silence, which helmed the fifth and sixth Scream movies.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
Denial of responsibility! TechCodex is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
Eugen Boglaru is an AI aficionado covering the fascinating and rapidly advancing field of Artificial Intelligence. From machine learning breakthroughs to ethical considerations, Eugen provides readers with a deep dive into the world of AI, demystifying complex concepts and exploring the transformative impact of intelligent technologies.
