New Scream forced into $500k rewrite after lead actor fired over social media posts

Reviews have begun dropping for the brand-new Scream film and they are, to put it bluntly, pretty terrible.

Scream 7 comes just four years after 2022’s Scream rebooted the film franchise. Featuring a number of stars before they became household names such as Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, and future Oscar winner Mikey Madison, the fifth film in the franchise brought Scream to a whole new generation of horror fans.

The production and release of Scream 7 however has been rife with controversy as it was revealed that production company Spyglass were forced into a rewrite of the film which cost them $500,000 after they fired Melissa Barrera.

Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega both exited the film, though Barrera was fired and Ortega quit (Spyglass)

Barrera was fired from the film after posting on social media about Gaza in November of 2023, saying on her Instagram story: “Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp.

“Cornering everyone together, with nowhere to go, no electricity no water. People have learnt nothing from our histories… Just like our histories, people are still silently watching it all happen. THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING.”

Spyglass released a statement claiming that they have ‘zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form’ and fired Barrera, stating that this includes: “False references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”

A United Nations Special Committee and Amnesty International has since found that Israel committed a genocide in Gaza.

Barrera has been outspoken about Palestine (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

This firing led to rewrites from the studio, in part as it was shortly followed by co-star Jenna Ortega and director Christopher Landon exiting the film.

It was initially reported that Ortega quit due to scheduling conflicts with Wednesday, but she later told The Cut: “It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling… It was all kind of falling apart.

“If Scream 7 wasn’t going to be with that team of directors and those people I fell in love with, then it didn’t seem like the right move for me in my career at the time.”

Variety have reported that Ortega and Barrera exiting the film led to a $500,000 rewrite of the script to replace their characters with Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, who has been in every Scream film except the 6^th.

The decision to fire Barrera and replace her with Campbell has led to criticism on social media with 30 Pro-Palestine protestors demonstrating outside the premiere, which took place last night.

Scream 7’s director Kevin Williamson said in a red-carpet interview: “We live in America. We have the right to protest.

“They have the right to be heard, and they have a right to speak to what your truth is, and I support that.”

Barrera posted to Instagram seemingly in reference to the protests, saying “I see you ❤️.”

The sequel has debuted to a near-franchise-low 47%. Owen Gleiberman said in his review for Variety: “Williamson has gone back to basics, but the result is a Scream sequel that, while it nods in the direction of being seductively convoluted, is really just…basic.”

One fan online who saw the film early called it an ‘abysmal sh*tshow’, adding: “Sloppily crafted, soulless and cynical script, and the cast is embarrassingly wooden. Mask off, this is both the worst instalment and the worst movie of the year.”

Scream 7 is available to watch in cinemas tonight, February 26.