Christopher Landon Says He Left SCREAM 7 Following “Highly Aggressive” Death Threats
Christopher Landon has broken his silence about the real reason he walked away from Scream 7, and it wasn’t just creative differences or scheduling conflicts. It was death threats. And a lot of them.
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Landon revealed the disturbing aftermath of Melissa Barrera’s firing from the film, which was an explosive moment that sent shockwaves through the fandom and put the director at the center of an internet firestorm he says he had no control over.
“I got messages saying, ‘I’m going to find your kids, and I’m going to kill them because you support child murder,’” Landon shared. His two sons, at the time, were just five and eight. “The head of security at various studios and the FBI had to examine the threats. It was highly aggressive and really scary.”
Back in November 2023, Spyglass Media Group cut ties with Barrera after she posted messages in support of Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war. Fans were quick to assign blame to Landon, despite his repeated statements that he wasn’t responsible for the decision.
“I did not fire her. 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.”
While Spyglass still wanted him to continue directing Scream 7, Landon made the choice to walk away. “The amount of abuse” was just too much.
“I decided I didn’t want to give any part of myself to that,” he explained. “For me, it was not worth it. I would rather put my efforts into something else, where I could feel appreciated and respected. The hate and abuse really spoiled it for me, and I lost my love for the idea of going forward.”
The whole thing, he says, left him heartbroken. “In the midst of all the chaos, I was grieving the loss of one of my dream jobs. I went through all the stages—I was shocked, I was sad, and then I got angry. To be a part of this legacy, it was really hard to let it go.”
Landon’s not holding any grudges, though. In fact, he’s rooting for the new director, original Scream scribe Kevin Williamson, who stepped in to take over.
“Kevin probably made a banger of a movie, because he knows it better than anybody. It’s going to be awesome.”
It sucks that Landon’s journey with the Scream 7 franchise ended in trauma. It’s wild how some people can get so crazily aggressive about movies. Threatening the life of someone and their family is bonkers to me.