Who knew that it wouldn’t be Ghostface who killed off the main characters of the ‘Scream’ franchise? Instead, it would be a controversial firing and some scheduling issues (reportedly).
According to a new report from Deadline, it appears Jenna Ortega is also bowing out of the ‘Scream’ franchise, as the development of “Scream VII” continues. The reason given is the impending shooting schedule for “Wednesday,” which is clearly Ortega’s bigger priority. The report claims that discussions about Ortega leaving “Scream” were taking place before the SAG strike and have nothing to do with the news surrounding Melissa Barrera or just a general desire to be done with ‘Scream.’
READ MORE: ‘Scream 7’ Star Melissa Barrera Fired After Pro-Palestine Comments
And no, despite what I teased before, this doesn’t mean the end of ‘Scream.’ It just, clearly, means the end of this version of ‘Scream,’ which debuted with a new cast in “Scream 5” and saw massive success with the two newest films.
Ok, that’s all the report claims, but let’s really talk about this honestly and what it means.
First, we have to discuss the elephant in the room—the timing of this news. If it is true that Jenna Ortega was concerned about issues with scheduling before the SAG strike, then you would have to imagine Spyglass (the studio behind the franchise) would move mountains to make sure she would stick around. Though Barrera is the lead, Ortega’s star power has gone through the roof, thanks to “Wednesday,” and she is clearly a major factor in the success of the most recent films. The idea of “Scream” being as popular as it is today without Ortega’s involvement is laughable. And Spyglass knows this. So, it would be silly to assume a simple scheduling conflict would result in the franchise losing its biggest draw.
If it’s not scheduling (or at least not totally scheduling), there has to be a bit more to this story, right? Barrera being unceremoniously (and controversially) fired for her social media comments is going to lead to a lot of issues with “Scream” moving forward. Not just storywise, but in the real world, too. Actors are going to be expected to comment on the news, which means they’ll have to literally pick a side in one of the most polarizing political debates of our lifetime. Not only that, but by picking a side, they have to either go against their castmate by agreeing with the studio firing their friend or go against the studio, which could mean incredible blowback for their career. It’s a hot mess inside of a dumpster fire. Ortega probably doesn’t want anything to do with that. And honestly, it wouldn’t be shocking to hear that other people are leaving the film, too.
So, what happens next for “Scream 7?” This is purely speculation, but it feels like the only way to get out of this mess is to either go for yet another reboot or embrace the legacy cast fully and forget all of the new characters. That means shelling out a shit ton of money for Neve Campell and the rest. And yes, it probably means pulling some shenanigans to bring back Matthew Lillard in some way. Honestly, neither of those options sound very exciting.
What we’re left with, at this point, is a “Scream VII” without its two lead actors and probably no hope of giving their characters any sort of proper sendoff. (Off screen deaths are the worst.) Well, it was fun while it lasted.