Ghostface is out for blood in the long-awaited first trailer for Scream 7.
Despite the new installment’s cast shake-ups and previously leaving the franchise over a pay dispute, Neve Campbell will return as Sidney Prescott in the film. The trailer, released Thursday, shows Ghostface targeting Sidney and her daughter Tatum, played by newcomer Isabel May.
While some fans celebrated Campbell’s homecoming to the franchise, others were unable to let go of the cast members notably missing from the trailer: Actors Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega are no longer part of the horror franchise after starring in the revival films Scream in 2022 and Scream VI in 2023.
“Don’t care. Looks boring. We want Melissa,” one social media user commented under the trailer on X. Another added, “I have no interest in any Scream movie that Jenna Ortega isn't in.”
Someone else wrote, “Do not forget what spyglass did to Melissa Barrera. stand with Palestine. Boycott.”
Barrera, who was set to reprise her role as Sam Carpenter in the new film, was fired from Scream 7 over her social media posts criticizing Israel for the genocide in Palestine months after the sixth film was released, prompting pro-Palestine supporters to boycott the series.
The film’s production company Spyglass Media alleged at the time that her posts “floated an antisemitic trope that Jews control the media.” In the Instagram post, she had said, “Western media only shows the [Israeli] side. Why do they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself.”
After Barrera’s exit, Ortega left the project voluntarily. Initial reports said the exit was due to scheduling conflicts, but Ortega later clarified that the decision had nothing to do with pay or scheduling.
“The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart,” she told The Cut earlier this year. “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.”
After Barrera and Ortega dropped out, director Christopher Landon also decided to quit, calling the project a “dream job that turned into a nightmare.”
The new movie, out in February, is directed by Kevin Williamson, who created the franchise. Other familiar faces returning for the film include Courtney Cox and Jasmin Savoy Brown. Matthew Lillard, David Arquette, and Scott Foley are also all set to reprise their characters who died in past films.
