The “Scream” franchise is back — and living in the shadow of behind-the-scenes drama.
The first trailer for “Scream 7” released on Thursday to, at best, a muted reaction from fans. “Scream 7” has been under a microscope for some time following the removal of Melissa Barrera in 2023 after the actress posted comments about the Israel-Hamas war. Jenna Ortega, who co-lead “Scream” (2022) and “Scream VI” with Barrera, bowed out herself following the actress’ firing.
“Boycott Scream 7 and Support Scary Movie 6 instead,” @sandlerverse said on X.
While some franchise fans specifically criticized the trailer in the light of Barrera’s removal, however, others had a more general complaint: namely, that the movie doesn’t look good. Several social media users pointed to the recursive storyline at the trailer’s center, which “looks like the kind of movie that the ‘Scream’ films would make fun of,” @evildeadburn noted on X.
“‘Scream 7’ looks like a stab movie they’d advertise within the universe where the whole joke is ‘can you believe people watch this slop,’” @therimjobreaper added.
Other fans turned their heads at the movie entirely, pretending as if there are only six movies in the “Scream” franchise. Regardless of the audience perspective, the general vibe seemed to be negative across the board. You can check out some more social media reactions below.
Barrera’s firing came in November 2023 after she posted on Instagram about the “ethnic cleansing” of the Palestinian people in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, saying, “Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp.” Spyglass quickly responded with a statement regarding Barrera’s removal, stating, “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.”
The “Scream” star maintained that her comments were not hate speech, saying, “First and foremost I condemn antisemitism and Islamophobia. I condemn hate and prejudice of any kind against any group of people.” She has since said she’s made peace with the incident.
This firing created a revolving door at “Scream 7,” with departures and arrivals from the film’s cast and crew. Christopher Landon, who once called “Scream 7” a “dream job that turned into a nightmare,” exited as director when his script (revolving around Barrera) was no longer usable. Ortega soon followed, reportedly as a result of scheduling conflicts with Netflix’s “Wednesday.” Ortega herself clarified this wasn’t the case.
“It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling,” she said in April. “The Melissa stuff was happening and it was all kind of falling apart.”
Since then, a number of people from the OG “Scream” team hopped onto the film — notably including Neve Campbell, who was absent from “Scream VI” due to a pay dispute. David Arquette, Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley — all of whom portrayed characters who died in previous films — also signed on to return, as did Kevin Williamson (now director), who wrote “Scream,” “Scream 2” and “Scream 4.”
This significant presence of the franchise’s glory days caught a lot of attention on social media in the new trailer, with fans pointing to the repetitive nature of the film’s apparent plotline. Of course, the “Scream” franchise is no stranger to a bit of repetition, with many of the films following similar arcs.
It is, however, notable that the “Scream” series is one of the most consistently liked franchises in the genre, with many fans calling each entry, at worst, passable and, at best, a horror classic. If “Scream 7” receives the same reaction upon release as its first trailer got, it would be an anomaly for the series — and a testament to this troubled production.
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