It’s been a fraught week for the production of Scream 7. First, it was announced that star Melissa Barrera was fired due to social media posts that were perceived as anti-semitic (an accusation she denies). Then, breakout star Jenna Ortega was also taken off the cast list due to conflicts with her hit Netflix series, Wednesday. Faced with the two biggest stars of the newly-rebooted franchise no longer being part of the sequel, Variety is reporting that a significant “creative reset” is underway, with the hope that original franchise star Neve Campbell will return as Sidney Prescott.
Campbell has long been open to returning to the series after skipping the sixth film due to a pay dispute. Many, including original franchise mastermind Kevin Williamson, shamed the studio, saying Campbell should be paid what she’s worth. Now that Barrera and Ortega, two rising genre stars, are out, Campbell may get the remuneration she advocated for.
But she may not be the only returning star.
While Courteney Cox could return, the studio is reportedly eager for Patrick Dempsey, who played Sidney’s love interest in the third film, to return. In the fifth Scream movie, it was hinted that Sidney and his cop character, Mark Kincaid, had gotten married, so his return would make sense. Dempsey, who was recently crowned People’s Sexiest Man Alive, is currently starring in Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving, and genre fans would likely welcome his return.
Christopher Landon, the helmer behind the Happy Death Day movies and Freaky, is still set to direct. Regarding Barrera’s firing, Landon was surprisingly open about his disappointment, posting on X, “Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.”
The Variety report also clarifies the details surrounding Ortega’s exit, saying that she was never intended to be one of the movie’s leads due to her being busy with Wednesday. It was hoped that she might make a cameo at most, although that seems to be off the table. There is no news yet on whether the Meeks-Martin twins, Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding), will return, although given they both survived the last film, it’s possible.
Will this creative reset prove to be a good thing for the Scream franchise? Let us know in the comments!