Jenna Ortega Drops Out of SCREAM 7 Apparently Due to WEDNESDAY Scheduling Conflict

The Scream film franchise is going through some big headaches right now. Not long after Scream reboot franchise star Melissa Barrera was fired by Spyglass Media for comments she made on social media over the Israel-Hamas conflict, Jenna Ortega is now stepping away from the franchise and will not be coming back for Scream 7.

The news comes from Deadline, which makes a point of saying that Ortege’s exit has nothing to do with the fallout from Melissa Barrera‘s firing. They claim that it’s because of a scheduling conflict with Wednesday Season 2.

The report explains 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.”

There’s no production date set for Scream 7 yet, so it’s strange to me that they are using scheduling issues as an excuse. Whatever they do have in terms of a story was going to have to be reworked anyway with Barrea’s exit so it will be awhile before they start shooting.

At the same time, I think it made it easier for Ortega to walk away from the franchise with Barrera being fired. Regardless, Ortega’s career is blasting off right now and she could pretty much star in whatever projects she wants that come her way.

Scream 7 is being directed by Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day, Freaky), and now he definitely has his work cut out for him.