Director Christopher Landon is no longer directing Scream VII. The filmmaker announced on social media that he has exited the franchise, which doesn’t really come a surprise to me after all the drama that has unfolded over the past couple of months.
As you know, Melissa Barrera was fired by Spyglass over comments she made on social media over the Israel-Hamas conflict and Jenna Ortega also ended up bowing out due to “scheduling conflicts” with Wednesday Season 2, but, there’s probably more to her exit than that. Now Landon is gone, and this is what he shared in a statement:
“I guess now is as good a time as any to announce I formally exited Scream 7 weeks ago. This will disappoint some and delight others. It was a dream job that turned into a nightmare. And my heart did break for everyone involved. Everyone. But it’s time to move on.
“I have nothing more to add to the conversation other than I hope Wes’ legacy thrives and lifts above the din of a divided world. What he and Kevin created is something amazing and I was honored to have even the briefest moment basking in their glow.”
I was actually looking forward to seeing what Landon would do with the franchise. He’s directed some fun horror films like Happy Death Day and Freaky, and it seemed like Scream was right up his alley. But, unfortunately, the situation turned sour for him and he’s on to the next thing.
It’ll be interesting to see how Spyglass Media moves forward. I imagine they’ll bring a new director in to move the franchise forward, but who will that be!? The production company has their work cut out for them.
Following backlash on social media for cutting Barrera from Scream VII, Spyglass Media released a statement noting the reasons they had for letting her go: “Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”
If the Scream franchise came to an end now, that’d be fine. They pretty much have to reboot the whole thing again because the story that the creative was looking to tell is now in the trash.
