{"id":2239,"date":"2026-02-27T11:05:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T11:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/?p=587197"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"protests-foul-reviews-shady-director-inside-the-biggest-car-crash-of-2026-scream-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2026\/02\/27\/protests-foul-reviews-shady-director-inside-the-biggest-car-crash-of-2026-scream-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Protests, foul reviews, shady director: Inside the biggest car crash of 2026, Scream 7"},"content":{"rendered":"

After decades of dominating the horror genre and making the next generation question why they’re attracted to Ghostface, Scream 7 might have torpedoed future instalments.<\/p>\n

The first film, released back in 1996, set a gold standard for subsequent slasher films<\/a>. Though not all Scream films are created equal, with some painfully worse than others, there’s no denying that it’s one of the more popular horror franchises<\/a> alongside Halloween, The Conjuring films, and Evil Dead.<\/p>\n

So what went wrong? Let’s take a look.<\/p>\n

It all started with Scream’s sacking of Melissa Barrera<\/h2>\n
\"Paramount
Credit: Paramount<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After more than a decade, Scream returned to our lives in 2022 with a fresh take on the slasher format. Former stars returned, but moreso to pass the baton over to Melissa Barrera<\/a>, Jenna Ortega, Mason Gooding, and Jasmin Savoy Brown. They were to be the next generation, and the film recieved 82 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. 2023’s Scream VI got 90 per cent.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, after sharing support for Palestine and condemning Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Melissa Barrera was sacked from the franchise, leaving the new wave of films without a lead. Her firing marked the start of a downward spiral.<\/p>\n

Jenna Ortega left Scream soon after<\/h2>\n
\"Paramount
Credit: Paramount<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just days after Melissa’s firing, Jenna Ortega left the Scream franchise as well. At the time, it was claimed to be due to scheduling conflicts with Netflix’s Wednesday, but Jenna herself refuted that.<\/p>\n

“The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart,” she explained. “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.”<\/p>\n

Then, director Christopher Landon left<\/h2>\n

Scream’s director, Christopher Landon, left “about a week” after Melissa’s sacking. In his book, he said there was “no movie” without Melissa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no movie anymore. The whole script was about her,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI didn\u2019t sign on to make \u2018a ‘Scream’ movie.\u2019 I signed on to make that movie. When that movie no longer existed, I moved on.”<\/p>\n

The whole film was rewritten, and it cost big bucks<\/h2>\n
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lowest rated film in the scream franchise, entire script leaked months ago, footage of act 3 released last week, acting shitty in general, they spent $500k on script rewrites just for it still to suck. i hope firing and betraying melissa was worth itpic.twitter.com\/TbR0QQlEA9<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/jM5OnkrMyw<\/a><\/p>\n

— jolt (@meltborne) February 26, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n