"Scream 7" Original Director Christopher Landon Didn't Fire Melissa Barrera But Was Blamed Anyway

Dan Lalonde
3 days ago
2 min read

Updated: 1 day ago

Scream 7 Christopher Landon Neve Campbell Melissa Barrera Jenna Ortega

Whose your favorite character from the 'Scream' franchise? I have to go with the film nerd Randy Meeks, who was played by Jamie Kennedy. He reminds me of myself, an encyclopedia of useless film information. Dates aren't as impressed as I thought they would be with knowing every line of 'Armageddon,' but that is more of an article for my other website danlalondetinder.com.

Christopher Landon, the original director of 'Scream 7', is opening up about his leaving the film after star Melissa Barrera was fired for comments on the Israel-Palestine situation. He gave the inside information in the book 'Your Favorite Scary Movie: How the Scream Films Rewrote the Rules of Horror'.

“There was no movie anymore. The whole script was about her. I didn’t sign on to make a Scream movie. I signed on to make that movie. When that movie no longer existed, I moved on."

Landon would soon receive death threats: “They were all screaming at someone who wasn’t even on the movie anymore. There were a lot of people who thought I was some sort of villain. That really got in my head. It was painful, and it was painful to lose a dream job in such a sudden and bizarre way.”

Landon also told Variety: "The head of security at various studios and the FBI had to examine the threats… I did not fire Melissa. A lot of people think I had something to do with it, and it was not my doing. I had no control of the situation at all.”

Jenna Ortega, who played Barrera's sister, soon left too, she told The Cut:

“It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling. It was all kind of falling apart. 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.”

The first film's screenwriter, Kevin Williamson, took over directing duties and changed the plot to refocus on Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott, who sat out 'Scream VI.' It opens in theaters February 27th, 2026. Comment below with your thoughts.