In fall 2023, Jenna Ortega left the Scream franchise behind apparently over schedule conflicts with Wednesday season 2. The word about Ortega’s departure broke shortly after her on-screen sister, Melissa Barrera, was fired from Scream 7 over comments she made about the war in Gaza. There was a separate report that Ortega left Scream 7 over a salary dispute. Now, Ortega is sharing her reasons why she won’t be back as Tara Carpenter after playing the role in the last two Scream movies.
“It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling,” said Ortega during an interview with The Cut. “The Melissa stuff was happening, and 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.”
Radio Silence’s Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin had previously dropped out as the directors of Scream 7 before Barrera was fired. Their replacement, Christopher Landon, also left the film after Ortega and Barrera were out of the project. In their place, Kevin Williamson — the original screenwriter of Scream, Scream 2, and Scream 4 — was named as the new director of Scream 7.
Neve Campbell, who refused to appear in Scream 6 over her own salary dispute, will once again headline Scream 7 as Sydney Prescott. 1883 star Isabel May will play Sydney’s daughter in the film. Courtney Cox will also reprise her role as Gale Weathers. who along with Sydney are the only remaining survivors from the first film.
Scream 7 will hit theaters on February 27, 2026.