The Scream franchise is getting murdered.
One day after Spyglass fired star Melissa Barrera from Scream VII, the latest installment of the horror movie series, it has been revealed that Jenna Ortega will also not be returning.
Losing the two main leads who were instrumental in revitalizing the aging franchise now puts its future in question. Christopher Landon remains on board as director — for now — but next steps for Spyglass remain unclear.
Sources insist that Ortega’s departure has nothing to do with Barrera’s firing, which occurred after she made dozens of social media posts referring to the Israel-Hamas war. Sources say that Ortega’s representatives informed Spyglass prior to the actors strike that the actress, one of the biggest young Hollywood names to emerge in the past decade, would not be returning. Multiple sources say the actress either had no deal or, in the renegotiating of her option, asked what the movie company deemed was too much money. Spyglass had previously declined to bring back original franchise star Neve Campbell after she had asked for a significant raise for Scream VI. (Campbell would later say, “I couldn’t walk on set … feeling undervalued.”)
Barrera and Ortega have played sisters in the franchise since 2022’s Scream. In the short time since that film was released, Ortega became a sizable star thanks to her work on Netflix’s hit Wednesday, and was seen as a linchpin to the Scream franchise.
2022’s Scream revamped the series, with younger stars including Barrera and Ortega teaming up with legacy actors Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette. It grossed $137.7 million globally. The New York-set Scream VI topped $168.9 million globally.
