Jenna Ortega is reportedly not returning for Scream 7. The news arrived on the heels of reports that Melissa Barrera was let go from the film for making controversial remarks about the Israel and Palestine conflict on social media. However, Ortega’s exit is reportedly because of the shooting schedule for her hit Netflix series Wednesday.
Via Deadline:
We understand that Ortega’s exit from the next Scream was discussed before the actors strike. A script for Scream VII is not ready yet, and the Primetime Emmy nominee has to head to Ireland in April to shoot the second season of Netflix’s Wednesday which will go into the summer. Additionally, Beetlejuice post SAG-AFTRA strike had a few extra days of shooting in order to meet its Labor Day 2024 theatrical release.
While other trades have corroborated with sources that Ortega planned to leave the franchise before Barrera’s firing, that has not stopped the speculation on social media from running rampant. Earlier this morning, an unsourced tweet from PopTingz claimed that Ortega asked to end her contract after Barrera was fired. The official reporting claims that’s not true, and Ortega was already eyeing an exit because of her increasingly busy schedule.
That reporting could also explain why it was so easy to let Barrera go. She played Ortega’s sister, Sam Carpenter, in Scream V and Scream VI. With Ortega reportedly expressing her desire to leave before the strike, the seventh installment could have already been pivoting away from the Carpenter family.
Regardless, social media will have a field day claiming the official studio story is a cover-up for Ortega quitting over Barrera’s firing, and it will be hard to dispel that narrative whether it’s true or not.
(Via Deadline)