Melissa Barrera (“Vida,” “Carmen,” “In the Heights”) will no longer star in the upcoming “Scream VII” at Spyglass according to THR.
The actress has reportedly been dropped from the project after a series of social media posts in the wake of the Israel-Hamas War. Spyglass, the company behind the Scream franchise, had no comment for the trade.
Barrera was the star of the last two films as the new main protagonist Sam Carpenter with 2022’s fifth film taking $137.7 million and this year’s “Scream VI” coming in with $168.9 million.
“Happy Death Day” filmmaker Christopher Landon is taking on directing duties on “Scream VII,” replacing filmmakers Radio Silence who exited a while back.
As filming had not begun and development on the film had been slowed due to the strikes, it’s expected Spyglass will now overhaul its plans for the movie which will likely result in a delay.
Jenna Ortega, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Mason Gooding also starred in the recent instalments with the four serving as the new main csst. Both the fifth and sixth “Scream” films were released by Paramount Pictures.
Update: The film’s director has released a statement on Twitter: “Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.”
Spyglass has issued a statement as well saying: “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.”
In addition, Variety has published a lengthy piece about multiple firings or demotions taking place at Hollywood agencies due to social media posts from agents and actors about the larger political situation.
