Scream 7 may have received the worst reviews of the entire franchise, but it also set a box-office record for the series, grossing over $213 million worldwide. Not so fast. Melissa Barrera, who played Sam Carpenter in Scream and Scream VI, believes that the studio lied about the numbers for Scream 7.
Melissa Barrera on Scream 7
The actress recently spoke with Variety, and when the interviewer stated that Scream 7 “sucked,” Barrera agreed. “I know. And I think they lied about the numbers,” she said. “I don’t think it made that much money.“
The original plan for Scream 7 would have seen Barrera and Jenna Ortega returning as Sam and Tara Carpenter, but Spyglass Media fired Barrera after a few pro-Palestinian social media posts that they deemed anti-Semitic. Ortega had also exited the project, and director Christopher Landon also departed, calling it a “dream job that turned into a nightmare.“
The rest of the cast returned, as did Neve Campbell, who sat out the last movie due to a pay dispute. When asked by Variety if she felt like her former costars were “basically crossing the picket line” and were “scabby,” Barrera said, “Oh, one hundred percent. I think they all are. And they have to live with that. The only way they were able to make that movie after what happened was to nostalgia-bait as much as possible.“
Our Reviews of Scream 7 Were Mixed
Our own Tyler Nichols, and Scream franchise mega-fan, sadly didn’t enjoy the sequel. “Most of the new characters are simple set dressing or fodder for kills,” he wrote. “I get that this is a slasher but no one even feels dimensional and they hardly get any characterization. With the worst final act in Scream history, I feel like it’s definitely time to put this franchise to bed.” You can check out the rest of his review right here.
However, our own Mike Conway found much more to enjoy, although he admitted that the film won’t be for everyone. “The critics are already sharpening their knives, and some fans can’t see past the production hurdles,” he wrote in his review. “But if you can separate the art from the industry mess, you’ll find a lean, mean slasher that definitively answers the existential question of what this series is. At its heart, Scream is Neve Campbell’s franchise.“
As you might expect, another sequel is in the works. Spyglass recently tapped Lilla and Nora Zuckerman, the showrunners of Poker Face, to serve as the writers of Scream 8.
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