Scream 7 is now in cinemas, bringing Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott back into our lives after she was absent from Scream VI (more on that in a bit). But there are two notable absences with Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega not reprising their roles as Sam and Tara Carpenter.
Unless you followed the development of the new movie closely, you might not realise why the duo haven’t returned, which is where we come in to help.
Scream VI faced its own casting problems as the first Scream movie not to feature Campbell as a result of a pay dispute. Despite many arguing it wouldn’t be Scream without Sidney Prescott, Scream VI was still a box office smash that earned $169.1 million worldwide. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett expressed interest in a seventh movie that they hoped would be able to bring Sidney back into the fold.
It didn’t quite pan out that way, as the duo stepped back to focus on Abigail, but they stayed on as executive producers. Scream 7 was officially announced in August 2023, this time with Happy Death Day’s Christopher Landon taking the reins.
Things quickly unravelled as, on November 21, 2023, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Barrera had been dropped from the movie over comments made on social media. In one post, Barrera spoke out about the situation in Gaza, referring to it as “genocide” and calling it “ethnic cleansing”.
A spokesperson for Spyglass stated: “Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”
Paramount
Barrera responded two days later with her own statement, writing: “First and foremost I condemn antisemitism and Islamophobia. I condemn hate and prejudice of any kind against any group of people. As a Latina, a proud Mexicana, I feel the responsibility of having a platform that allows me the privilege of being heard, and therefore I have tried to use it to raise awareness about issues I care about and to lend my voice to those in need,” she began.
“Every person on this earth – regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or socio-economic status – deserves equal human rights, dignity and, of course, freedom. I believe a group of people are NOT their leadership, and that no governing body should be above criticism.”
As for Ortega’s departure, which was announced the day after Barrera’s firing, it was initially said to be due to scheduling issues because of her role as the titular Wednesday Addams in Netflix’s Wednesday. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ortega’s exit was said to have been discussed before the actors’ strike, which ran July to November 2023.
In April 2025, Ortega denied it had “nothing to do with pay or scheduling”, referring to trade reports that she supposedly asked for more money to return for the seventh movie (via The Hollywood Reporter).
“The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart,” she continued. “If Scream VII 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.”
Paramount
Ortega’s exit wasn’t the final one to hit Scream 7 before it even started filming though, as Christopher Landon confirmed in December 2023 he had also left the project. “It was a dream job that turned into a nightmare. And my heart did break for everyone involved. Everyone. But it’s time to move on,” he explained.
An April 2025 interview saw Landon reveal he received threats against his family over Barrera’s firing, even though it wasn’t his decision. “A lot of people think I had something to do with it, and it was not my doing. I had no control of the situation at all,” he noted. “I think in the absence of people understanding how Hollywood works and what the hierarchy is, the fans were like, ‘That’s the guy’. And so they came for me, knives out.”
Landon’s departure allowed series creator Kevin Williamson to step up to the plate for his first time directing a Scream movie, with Williamson also co-writing the movie with Guy Busick, who co-wrote the previous two movies.
Scream 7 is out now in cinemas.
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Tom Chapman is a pop culture-loving writer and NCTJ-accredited Broadcast Journalist with over seven years of experience covering the small and silver screen.Â
Starting his career with a post at Movie Pilot in Berlin, Tom took on freelancing full-time with regular stints at Digital Spy, Screen Rant and Comic Book Resources.
These days, you can still find him covering all things Marvel and Star Wars at Digital Spy, while dipping his toe in bylines at Yahoo! and IGN.Â
Tom likes to think his spirit animal is a cross between Gale Weathers and Olenna Tyrell.