Scream’s big-time stars are dropping like Ghostface victims as now both Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega have reportedly left the franchise. In the case of Barrera, Spyglass fired the star from the upcoming Scream VII, the latest installment of the horror movie series over social media comments on the Israel/Palestine war.
Deadline is now reporting that Jenna Ortega will also not be returning. Christopher Landon remains on board as director for now, but the next steps for Spyglass remain unclear.
Sources close to the report insist that Ortega’s departure “has nothing to do with Barrera’s firing.” They’re saying that Ortega’s representatives informed Spyglass before the actors’ strike that the actress would not be returning. In the past year, Ortega has made a name for herself and even earned an Emmy nomination for Netflix’s Wednesday.
Multiple sources say the actress either had no deal or, in the renegotiating of her option, asked for what the movie company supposedly thought was too much money. Spyglass had declined to bring back original franchise star Neve Campbell after she had asked for a significant raise for Scream VI, making it the first movie in the series in which she would not appear
Barrera and Ortega have played sisters in the film since 2022’s Scream and were seen as a lynchpin for the franchise.