Jenna Ortega
Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images
The Scream franchise is being murdered.
A day after Spyglass fired star Melissa Barrera from Scream VII, the latest entry in the horror film series, it was announced that Jenna Ortega will not be returning either.
The loss of the two main actors who were instrumental in reviving the aging franchise now puts its future in question. Christopher Landon remains on board as director – for now – but the next steps for Spyglass remain unclear.
Sources insist Ortega’s departure has nothing to do with Barrera’s firing, which came after she made dozens of social media posts related to the Israel-Hamas war. Sources say Ortega’s representatives informed Spyglass before the actors’ strike that the actress, one of the biggest young Hollywood names to emerge in the last decade, would not be returning. Multiple sources say the actress either didn’t have a deal or asked what the film company thought was too much money when renegotiating her option. Spyglass had previously refused to bring back the franchise’s original star Neve Campbell after she asked for a significant raise for Scream VI. (Campbell later said, “I couldn’t walk on set… felt undervalued.”)
Barrera and Ortega have played sisters in the franchise since 2022’s Scream. In the short time since this film’s release, Ortega became a major star thanks to her work on the Netflix hit Wednesday and was considered the linchpin of the Scream franchise.
2022’s “Scream” revamped the series, teaming up younger stars like Barrera and Ortega with veteran actors Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette. It grossed $137.7 million worldwide. Set in New York, Scream VI grossed more than $168.9 million worldwide.