After Scream 7 imploded this week—with Spyglass firing lead star Melissa Barrera for her social media posts denouncing Israel’s war in Gaza, and the purportedly ill-timed confirmation that Jenna Ortega would not return either—a new report suggests the production house is undertaking a major rework of the film that could bring back some familiar faces.
Variety reports that screenwriters James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick are now working on overhauling a new draft for Scream 7—one that may preserve some of the setpieces of the upcoming slasher, but will now have to navigate the absence of Barerra’s Sam Carpenter after Spyglass publicly fired the actress, claiming that Barerra’s regular social commentary since Israel’s bombing and ground invasion of Gaza, and the sharing of articles denouncing the conflict as a genocide of the Palestinian people, had been deemed anti-Semitic. The trade further notes that plans had already been underway to retool elements of the movie after Jenna Ortega’s schedule filming the Netflix Addams Family spinoff Wednesday made her largely unavailable to return as Sam’s sister, Tara—after hopes for a cameo appearance by the actress evaporated when it became public a day after Barerra’s firing that Ortega would now not return at all.
Amid what has become a public backlash against the firing of Barerra, Spyglass is now purportedly looking to leverage Scream’s past once more for the new movie—with previous stars Neve Campbell, Patrick Dempsey, and Courtney Cox all allegedly on the table for what is described by Variety as a “wish list” for potential returns, although none are in current negotiations. Campbell and Cox previously returned for the fifth Scream movie, a soft reboot/sequel, to reprise their major roles as Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers, respectively, but only Cox returned for Scream 6.
Considering Campbell already declined a return and blasted Spyglass and Paramount for what she said was a pay offer that “did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise,” it’s hard to imagine she’d be willing to return for Scream 7 without major changes, especially in the wake of the series’ publicly messy ousting of Barrera showing just how Spyglass is capable of treating its stars. But stranger things have happened, and after the week Scream 7 has faced so far, anything could be on the table at this point—whether or not the aggrieved audience furious at Barerra’s treatment could be courted back after all this, however, remains to be seen.
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