When Scream 7 was officially announced in August 2023, one question was on everyone’s lips: would Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera, who play the Carpenter sisters, return for this new film? A few months later we have our answer and neither of them will be appearing in Christopher Landon‘s movie.
First it was Melissa Barrera who was dropped from the project because of her social networking posts about the conflict between Israel and Hamas. In a statement, Spyglass, the studio behind the Scream films, said: “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.”
Shortly after this announcement, Deadline revealed that Jenna Ortega will also be absent from Scream 7 due to scheduling problems. The American media reports that the actress’ departure was discussed with the production before the cast went on strike: “We understand that Ortega’s exit from the next Scream was discussed before the actors strike. A script for Scream VII is not ready yet, and the Primetime Emmy nominee has to head to Ireland in April to shoot the second season of Netflix’s Wednesday which will go into the summer.”
Without these two headliners, the creative teams will have to rethink the future of the franchise. Could this mean the return of Neve Campbell to Scream? Answer in the coming months.
Jenna Ortega 
Scream (Saga) 
