After Melissa Barrera was fired following “controversial comments” regarding the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, Jenna Ortega announced she was leaving the project over a “scheduling conflict.”
Yesterday we learned that Melissa Barrera, the interpreter of Sam Carpenter in Scream and Scream VI, was fired by Spyglass following “controversial comments” concerning the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
Jenna Ortega, who plays Tara, the heroine’s sister, in the new films, has just announced that she is leaving the project for “schedule conflict”.
The actress had already mentioned the possibility of not reprising her role in Scream 7 before the actors’ strike. Jenna Ortega is in fact already engaged in filming season 2 of Tim Burton’s series, Wednesday, which should begin in April in Ireland. With the script for Scream 7 still not written, filming would likely have taken place at the same time.
But with this announcement coming just one day after Melissa Barrera’s ouster, it’s entirely possible that her friend’s departure precipitated things.
Paramount Jenna Ortega in Scream VI
What future for Scream 7?
So what can we expect from Scream 7 after the departure of the two main actresses of the saga? Christopher Landon, who replaced the filmmaker duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, will have to reinvent the franchise since Ghostface’s favorite targets are gone.
Will it continue the story started in Scream 5 and VI without the Carpenter sisters? Will it completely restart the saga? Or will the production agree to increase Neve Campbell’s salary so that the original actress agrees to reprise her role?
This is one of the avenues considered to date according to Variety. The seventh part could again focus on Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox). In Scream VI, Gale states that Sidney has moved elsewhere with her family and we know, at the end of the film, that the journalist survived Ghostface’s attack.
Paramount
Scream 3
Why the return of Patrick Dempsey?
According to the American media, one of the options would also be to bring back Patrick Dempsey, who played Detective Mark Kincaid in Wes Craven’s Scream 3 in 2000.
Voted the sexiest man in the world in 2023 by People magazine, Patrick Dempsey has not reappeared on screen since the third part of the franchise but his name was mentioned in Scream 5 since his character is married to Sidney Prescott.
Scream 7 could therefore be a new clash between Ghostface, Sidney, Mark and Gale. But this is only speculation since no negotiations have been started with the actors.