Scream 7 Reportedly Fires Melissa Barrera Over Controversial Comments
A new report suggests that Melissa Barrera won't be appearing in "Scream 7."
After a decade-long break from the silver screen, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett resurrected Wes Craven's "Scream" franchise with a 2022 reboot. Simply titled "Scream," the slasher pic introduced a new crew of Woodsboro teenagers who are threatened by Ghostface. The reboot puts the focus on Sam Carpenter (Barrera) and her young sister, Tara (Jenna Ortega). Plagued by visions of her late father, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), Sam returns to Woodsboro to team up with old guard Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) to save the town from doom.
Thanks to solid reception from fans and positive box office receipts, a sequel titled "Scream VI" manifested in 2023, which doubled down on Sam and Tara as the new leads of the franchise. Preliminary work on a seventh "Scream" film began this year, with Christopher Landon stepping into the director's chair. It was expected that Barrera and Ortega would return as the Carpenter sisters for the seventh pic.
However, Spyglass Media Group, the production company behind the slasher franchise, reportedly won't be bringing Barrera back on board for the untitled seventh "Scream" film. According to reporting by Variety, their sources say that Barrera was let go from the movie "due to her social media posts that referred to Israel as a 'colonized' land and floated an antisemitic trope that Jews control the media, writing: 'Western media only shows the [Israeli] side. Why do they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself.'"
How does Barrera's firing impact Scream 7?
Details on what "Scream 7" will look like are currently slim. The franchise had a major shakeup with 2023's "Scream VI," which happened to be the first picture in the series that didn't feature Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott. Campbell decided not to return for the sixth "Scream" after being offered a less-than-ideal salary. While her presence was sorely missed in "Scream VI," the film largely treated Prescott's absence with respect and put considerable emphasis on the Carpenter sisters as the franchise's new protags. With Melissa Barrera reportedly not returning for "Scream 7," it's unclear if the character of Sam Carptener will be written out or recast.
"Scream VI" ended with the Carpenter sisters reaching a mutual understanding, with Sam realizing that she has to let Tara take control over her own life. More importantly, Barrera's character seems to have come to terms with her birth father's identity, realizing that Loomis' legacy shouldn't define her.
Production on "Scream 7" is still in the early stages. "Happy Death Day" franchise and "Freaky" director Christopher Landon was brought on board to replace the Radio Silence team as director earlier this August. Seeing as Landon's work leans more into horror-comedy territory, it wouldn't be surprising if "Scream 7" takes a cue from the goofy (and criminally underrated) "Scream 3." Work on the seventh film is in the preliminary stages, with no official casting announcements made. As of this writing, Paramount Pictures, Spyglass Media Group, or Barrera haven't commented on Variety's report.