Following the announcement of Melissa Barrera's firing from Scream 7, it was announced that Jenna Ortega had quietly left the sequel months ago due to scheduling conflicts. However, I'm not buying what Spyglass is selling.
A new article from The Hollywood reporter revealed that the reason Jenna opted not to return for the seventh installment is due to a salary dispute, which, if you remember was the same reason why "Scream" queen Neve Campbell didn't sign on the appear in the sixth film.
via: THR
On Nov. 21, it broke that Spyglass had fired Melissa Barrera from the upcoming seventh Scream movie over social media posts that company decision-makers characterized as antisemitic. Sources note the firing actually came a month earlier, in the early weeks of the Israel-Hamas war, when Barrera had become increasingly vocal. Before her firing, sources say her deal to return as Sam Carpenter, the lead character she introduced in 2022’s Scream, had been finalized.
On Nov. 22 came the news that Barrera’s onscreen sister, Jenna Ortega, had quietly exited the franchise months earlier. Scheduling issues were cited, but sources say Ortega — who has skyrocketed from child star to supporting player in last year’s Scream to the A-list thanks to her turn in the Netflix series Wednesday — asked for a bigger payday for the seventh installment, commensurate with her status. Unlike Barrera, sources say Ortega had no deal in place.
Ortega had been paid in the six figures for her previous installments, but her team now wants projects with significant paydays, something that the Scream franchise is not known for. Sources say she was seeking high seven figures and anticipated that Spyglass would balk.
Spyglass head Gary Barber is known for his shrewd business sense or for being cheap, depending on what side of the table you are on, multiple sources say. The studio had already lost Scream stalwart Neve Campbell over a salary dispute for this year’s Scream VI, with the actress saying at the time that she “couldn’t walk on set feeling undervalued.” Many predicted that film would fail without its original star, but it ended up being the biggest movie in the franchise since the 1996 original. Barber’s apparent takeaway is that neither stars nor large salaries are essential. “He didn’t need Neve, he doesn’t need Jenna,” says one insider.
Scream VII was to have been the end of a rumored trilogy focused on the two Carpenter sisters. Even after Ortega departed, it wasn’t much of a pivot to refocus on Barrera’s more prominent character. But with both actors gone, restitching from whole cloth seems necessary.
While some insiders say the situation is a “shambles” and “very raw,” it may not be as dire as it might seem. Scream has always had interchangeable villains behind the mask, ensemble casts and certain legacy characters. Another reboot will not fatally stab the franchise.
Christopher Landon remains on board as director, as does James Vanderbilt, who co-wrote the two previous installments.
Wait, didn't they say the reason Jenna initially left was because of scheduling conflicts, and not because Melissa was fired? Now that no one bought that story, all of a sudden this spin comes out about Jenna wanted more money because she's a big Hollywood star?
I just think at this point since Spyglass has fired Melissa, and they've decided not to completely wrap the story with the Carpenter sisters, I can't see this film making as much money as Scream VI did at the box office with a complete reboot.
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