With Scream 5 and Scream 6, the legendary horror series about the Ghostface killer has been released in recent years after a long break successfully revived. Both films grossed well over $100 million at the box office. The work on the next sequel, Scream 7, was quickly decided.
As the Hollywood Reporter reports, in agreement with other industry sites, Melissa Barrera will not be returning as Sam Carpenter in the new film. The reason for this are controversial social media posts about the Israel-Hamas warwhich were shared by the actress on her Instagram profile in recent weeks.
Melissa Barrera fired from horror sequel: Scream 7 comes without the leading actress from parts 5 and 6
The Hollywood Reporter report quotes a social media post from Barrera:
Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp. Pushing everyone into a corner with nowhere to go, no electricity, no water… People have learned nothing from our history. And just like in our history, people are still silently watching everything happen. This is genocide and ethnic cleansing.
After Barrera’s firing was announced on Tuesday evening, Spyglass, the production studio behind the new Scream films, released a statement:
Spyglass’ position is clear: we have zero tolerance for anti-Semitism or incitement to hatred in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion, or anything that blatantly crosses the line into hate speech.
Scream 7 director Christopher Landon (Freaky) posted a statement on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), which he has since deleted. The Hollywood Reporter captured the message of his tweet:
This is my statement: Everything sucks. Stop screaming. That wasn’t my decision.
Barrera was cast in Scream 5 and 6 alongside Wednesday star Jenna Ortega new face of the horror series established. She previously appeared in the Netflix series Club de Cuervos and Vida. She celebrated her breakthrough on the big screen in 2021 with the musical film adaptation In the Heights, which was followed by Scream.
When does the horror sequel Scream 7 start in cinemas?
Scream 7 has so far no official theatrical release receive. Most recently, work on the project was interrupted due to the strike by screenwriters and actors in Hollywood. The dismissal of Barrera is now likely to cause further delays. There is still no information on how the creatives behind Scream 7 will explain the absence of Barrera’s character in the film.