Original “Scream 7” director Christopher Landon reveals in the new book “Your Favorite Scary Movie: How the Scream Films Rewrote the Rules of Horror” (via Entertainment Weekly) that he exited the horror sequel “about a week after” Spyglass Entertainment fired Melissa Barrera due to social media posts she wrote about Israel and Palestine.
“There was no movie anymore. The whole script was about her,” Landon said in referrence to Barrera’s Sam Carpenter, the daughter of Ghostface killer Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) who headlined 2022’s “Scream” and 2024’s “Scream VI”.
“I didn’t sign on to make ‘a “Scream” movie.’ I signed on to make that movie. When that movie no longer existed, I moved on,” the director added.
Barrera was fired from “Scream 7” in November 2023, but Landon’s departure wasn’t announced until a month later despite him removing himself from the sequel much earlier than that. He said in the book that he wanted to deal privately with the fallout over Barrera’s firing, but that became impossible when social media users sent him death threats under the assumption that he was the one who fired her.
“I was still sorting through my feelings about everything that had happened. When it all went down, it was something I was trying to process in a private and balanced way,” Landon said. “When you’re a public‑facing person, often people don’t like that. People want an immediate reaction, and they want you to agree with them.”
Landon announced his “Scream 7” departure “after the threats got too intense,” adding: “They were all screaming at someone who wasn’t even on the movie anymore. There were a lot of people who thought I was some sort of villain. That really got in my head. It was painful, and it was painful to lose a dream job in such a sudden and bizarre way.”
The director previously told Vanity Fair the death threats he was receiving at the time were “highly aggressive and really scary.”
“I got messages saying, ‘I’m going to find your kids, and I’m going to kill them because you support child murder,’” Landon said. “The head of security at various studios and the FBI had to examine the threats… I did not fire [Melissa]. 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.”
When Landon announced his exit in December 2023, he wrote on social media that getting “Scream 7” was “a dream job that turned into a nightmare.” He told Vanity Fair the death threats against him are why.
“I decided I didn’t want to give any part of myself to that,” Landon said about exiting the sequel. “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.”
Kevin Williamson, the writer of the original “Scream” movie and sequels “Scream 2” and “Scream 4,” ended up stepping in to direct the movie based on a totally new idea. Neve Campbell is returning as Sidney Prescott, who will once again be the center of the “Scream” franchise after sitting out “Scream VI.” The new movie opens in theaters Feb. 27.