A week ago, it was reported that Scream and Scream VI star Jenna Ortega had left the franchise ahead of Scream 7. While the story postured her departure to be around scheduling conflicts with the Netflix series Wednesday, there clearly may have been more to it.
After all, the news broke the day after co-star Melissa Barrera was fired for her comments on the Israel–Hamas War — but there might also be at least one franchise-familiar trope at play.
A new report from The Hollywood Reporter suggests that both Ortega and Barrera's exits happened weeks prior to our hearing about them, with the latter having allegedly been fired about a month ago when she began voicing her support for Palestine and the former allegedly parting ways with the franchise months earlier over a salary dispute.
As per the publication's Borys Kit, in addition to scheduling issues, Ortega's team were seeking a "high seven figure" payout for the actor, which production studio Spyglass was unwilling to offer despite Scream VI having had a $43.5 million box office opening — the most lucrative in the history of the franchise.
Back in 2022, something very similar happened: OG final girl Neve Campbell announced that she would not be returning for Scream VI. "As a woman I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to Scream," she shared in a statement at the time. "I felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise."
After the success of Scream VI, Spyglass head Gary Barber's apparent takeaway was that neither megawatt stars or their megawatt salaries were necessary. "He didn't need Neve, he doesn't need Jenna," an insider told THR, and both director Christopher Landon and writer James Vanderbilt are allegedly still on board for the next instalment. Still, it kind of seems like a scary time for the Scream franchise.
After all, the news broke the day after co-star Melissa Barrera was fired for her comments on the Israel–Hamas War — but there might also be at least one franchise-familiar trope at play.
A new report from The Hollywood Reporter suggests that both Ortega and Barrera's exits happened weeks prior to our hearing about them, with the latter having allegedly been fired about a month ago when she began voicing her support for Palestine and the former allegedly parting ways with the franchise months earlier over a salary dispute.
As per the publication's Borys Kit, in addition to scheduling issues, Ortega's team were seeking a "high seven figure" payout for the actor, which production studio Spyglass was unwilling to offer despite Scream VI having had a $43.5 million box office opening — the most lucrative in the history of the franchise.
Back in 2022, something very similar happened: OG final girl Neve Campbell announced that she would not be returning for Scream VI. "As a woman I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to Scream," she shared in a statement at the time. "I felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise."
After the success of Scream VI, Spyglass head Gary Barber's apparent takeaway was that neither megawatt stars or their megawatt salaries were necessary. "He didn't need Neve, he doesn't need Jenna," an insider told THR, and both director Christopher Landon and writer James Vanderbilt are allegedly still on board for the next instalment. Still, it kind of seems like a scary time for the Scream franchise.
