LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Jenna Ortega has reportedly dropped out of the ‘Scream VII’ movie due to scheduling conflicts with the filming of Netflix's ‘Wednesday’ Season 2.
This schedule was planned months ago before the SAG-AFTRA strike started. However, the production dates for the upcoming season of ‘Wednesday’ are yet to be confirmed.
In addition, Ortega has to wrap up the filming of Tim Burton's ‘Beetlejuice 2’, which was also interrupted by the SAG-AFTRA strike.
On the other hand, Mexican actress Melissa Barrera was fired from the ‘Scream VII’ movie franchise apparently due to her posts related to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and the Gaza conflict.
Having said that, Variety has confirmed that Ortega's exit from the film is not connected to Barrera's dismissal.
Melissa Barrera's posts on the Israel-Hamas conflict apparently deemed 'antisemitic' by Spyglass Studios
Melissa Barrera, 33, was cast as Sam Carpenter in the fifth installment of the 'Scream' movie franchise in August 2020, with the film scheduled to hit theaters in January 2022.
She was expected to represent the lead role in the upcoming ‘Scream VII’ film after playing the character in the fifth and sixth installments of the horror franchise over the past two years.
Following the October 7 Hamas attacks and Israel’s subsequent attacks on Gaza, Barrera has been posting on her Instagram about the conflict, resharing posts that apparently accuse Israel of "genocide and ethnic cleansing" and one from Jewish Currents magazine about distorting "the Holocaust to boost the Israeli arms industry."
Subsequently, Spyglass Media Group "dropped" her from the cast of ‘Scream VII’. According to Variety, a spokeswoman stated, "Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form."
The statement added that this includes "false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech."
Filmmaker Christopher Landon, who was poised to take over directorial responsibilities on ‘Scream VII’ after Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett stepped away after steering the franchise revival, initially offered a statement on the shocking development through a post on X (formerly Twitter) that has since been deleted.
"Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make," wrote Landon in a now-deleted post after the news of Barrera’s dismissal broke.
Internet reacts to Jenna Ortega dropping out of 'Scream VII'
Although it has been confirmed by Variety that Ortega's exit from the horror franchise was purely due to the actress’ scheduling conflicts and in no way connected to Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Productions dropping Melissa from the upcoming title, fans have rallied around the actress.
One wrote, "oh it’s over for them," as another stated, "Spyglass and Paramount have destroyed the Scream franchise. They should be ashamed. Proud of Jenna for standing up for what she believes in, same with Melissa!"
"Amazing news. Spyglass killed their own IP," noted a fan, while someone else quipped, "scream 7 gonna be the first film to make $0."
A user expressed, "Put a pin in it. It is done. This news has tanked the franchise. As I said yesterday, McCarthyism has returned to Hollywood, and now its good that actors are using their power to stand up to it. Jenna doesn't need SCREAM, it needs her."
"this is so brave of her. boycott scream 7," said one more, with a person adding, "we will not be watching."
Some even used memes to express their feeling regarding the state of the 'Scream VII' movie.
