Reviews have begun dropping for the brand-new Scream film and they are, to put it bluntly, pretty terrible - but that may not be surprising considering the film's cursed production.
Scream 7 comes just four years after 2022’s Scream rebooted the film franchise. Featuring a number of stars before they became household names such as Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, and future Oscar winner Mikey Madison, the fifth film in the franchise brought Scream to a whole new generation of horror fans.
The production and release of Scream 7 however has been rife with controversy as it was revealed that production company Spyglass were forced into a rewrite of the film, which cost them $500,000 after they fired Melissa Barrera.
The film has had three sets of directors attached to it. Scream 5 and Scream VI directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (known as Radio Silence) exited in August 2023. Their replacement, Happy Death Day's Christopher Landon, left the following December.
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He described the film as 'a dream job that turned into a nightmare', revealing that he'd received death threats over Barrera's departure despite it not being his decision.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, he described the film as 'a very dark and tumultuous experience'.
Directing duties on Scream 7 eventually fell to Kevin Williamson, who wrote the original movie.
Amidst all this, the new film's budget of $45 million is $10 million more than the sixth film cost, while Neve Campbell - who departed Scream VI over a pay dispute - negotiated a $7 million salary to return.
Plus this all took place in the midst of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA, which caused production to grind to a halt.
Barrera was fired from the film after posting on social media about Gaza in November of 2023, saying on her Instagram story: “Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp.
“Cornering everyone together, with nowhere to go, no electricity no water. People have learnt nothing from our histories… Just like our histories, people are still silently watching it all happen. THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING.”
In another post, she wrote: "Western media only shows the [Israeli] side. Why do they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself.
"We don’t need more hate. No Islamophobia. No antisemitism."
Spyglass released a statement claiming that they have ‘zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form’ and fired Barrera, stating that this includes: “False references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”
A United Nations Special Committee and Amnesty International have since found that Israel committed a genocide in Gaza.
Barrera later released an Instagram statement, which read in part: "As a latina, and proud Mexicana, I feel the responsibility of having a platform that allows me the privilege of being heard, and therefore I tried to use it to raise awareness about issues I care about and to lend my voice to those in need.
"Silence is not an option for me."
This firing led to rewrites from the studio, in part as it was shortly followed by co-star Jenna Ortega and director Christopher Landon exiting the film.
It was initially reported that Ortega quit due to scheduling conflicts with Wednesday, but she later told The Cut: “It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling… It was all kind of falling apart.
“If Scream 7 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.”
Variety has reported that Ortega and Barrera exiting the film led to a $500,000 rewrite of the script to replace their characters with Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, who has been in every Scream film except the 6th.
The decision to fire Barrera and replace her with Campbell has led to criticism on social media with 30 Pro-Palestine protestors demonstrating outside the premiere, which took place last night.
Scream 7’s director Kevin Williamson said in a red-carpet interview: “We live in America. We have the right to protest.
“They have the right to be heard, and they have a right to speak to what your truth is, and I support that.”
Barrera posted to Instagram seemingly in reference to the protests, saying “I see you," with a heart emoji.
The sequel has debuted to a near-franchise-low 47 percent, which has since fallen even further to 41 percent to make it the lowest-rated Scream film.
Owen Gleiberman said in his review for Variety: “Williamson has gone back to basics, but the result is a Scream sequel that, while it nods in the direction of being seductively convoluted, is really just…basic.”
One fan online who saw the film early called it an ‘abysmal s**tshow’, adding: “Sloppily crafted, soulless and cynical script, and the cast is embarrassingly wooden. Mask off, this is both the worst instalment and the worst movie of the year.”
Scream 7 is available to watch in cinemas tonight, February 26.
Topics: Horror, Jenna Ortega, TV and Film, Film, Palestine, Social Media
Michael Slavin