Scream lead Melissa Barrera was fired from the hit slasher franchise last year after she shared her support for Palestine in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war on social media.
That remains a divisive topic, but fans were quick to express their unhappiness with the decision and the project soon fell apart. Wednesday star Jenna Ortega later chose to walk away from the upcoming seventh instalment, and while it's been widely reported that a pay dispute was the main issue for her, rumour has it Ortega may have also been showing solidarity with Barrera.
Either way, without its two leads, it was clear Scream 7 couldn't be made as originally planned. Ultimately, even director Christopher Landon chose to exit the project, saying his decision came down to the fact that "it was a dream job that turned into a nightmare."
Spyglass is now thought to be courting original star Neve Campbell after previously refusing to pay her what she wanted for Scream VI. Talking to Screen Rant (via FearHQ.com), Skeet Ulrich - who played Billy Loomis, the father of Barrera's Sam and Ortega's Tara - shared fresh insights into what he'd heard about where the story was supposed to go
While his character, who also donned the iconic Ghostface mask, is long dead, he's had a recurring presence in Sam's life as she's seemingly descended into madness. According to Ulrich, the idea was for Billy's daughter to finally embrace her inner darkness in the finale of this trilogy.
"Exactly that. I was hoping for exactly that, and that's sort of the idea that was pitched to me a couple years ago," the actor says. "That it was a three-movie arc, with that in mind. Now, I never saw any of the drafts of seven or anything that.'
"And I don't know, I mean, it's possible that it didn't include any of that as well. But yeah, that was my hope is that if it was going to mean anything, that it directly impacted the plot."
We're not sure how Sam and Tara will be written out of Scream but based on how things ended in the last movie, it's clear the former was going to follow in her father's footsteps (and, while Ulrich chooses his words carefully, it seems that story arc was pitched to him before he agreed to those cameos).
"I feel like there’s so much that could happen with Sam," Barrera told us in a 2022 interview (you can watch that below). "Without giving any spoilers, but with how the movie ends and this side of her that she embraces at the end of this movie…I feel like there’s so much to explore with her."
"It could be a very interesting journey as an actor to explore that duality of the character and her embracing a little bit of the dark side. I don’t know. It’s exciting!"
Scream 7 does not have a confirmed release date.