Back in November 2023, Melissa Barrera, a rising actress, was fired from “Scream VII” for resharing a story on Instagram that accused Israel of “genocide and ethnic cleansing,” and another one about distorting “the Holocaust to boost the Israeli arms industry.”
Barrera didn’t stay silent. Soon after her firing, she posted a cryptic statement on Instagram, writing, “At the end of the day, I’d rather be excluded for who I include, than be included for who I exclude.”
Her wish was granted. Hollywood blacklists are a very real thing, and she’s been skating on very thin ice, with no new projects to speak of — the 2024 releases “Your Monster” and “Abigail” were shot before her firing. A year later, Barrera told Variety that acting offers “went quiet” for her after she was fired from the “Scream” franchise
Now, almost two years since the controversy, she’s finally landed a new project (via Deadline), starring alongside the king of B-movies, John Travolta, and directed by the master of disaster himself, Renny Harlin, in the survival thriller “Black Tides,” which just started production.
“Black Tides” follows Bill Pierce (Travolta), an estranged father trying to reconnect with his daughter Rebecca (Barrera) and grandson Sebastian (Torrell) when their sailboat is attacked by rogue orcas off the southern Spanish coast — setting off a fight for survival across open waters.
More recently, Harlin somehow managed to convince Lionsgate to let him direct three new “Strangers” movies (yes, three). The first two bombed at the box office and earned terrible reviews. The final chapter will hit theaters next year.
Harlin did have some early success in his career (“Die Hard 2” and “Cliffhanger”), but it’s been a real struggle for him these last 30 years. I can’t really think of any other active studio filmmaker who has had more critical and commercial failures than him. Don’t say Uwe Boll — he’s a special case, as he self-finances most of his movies.
Harlin’s cinematic nadirs include the likes of “Cutthroat Island,” “Driven,” “Exorcist: The Beginning,” “Mindhunters,” and “The Legend of Hercules.” It’s not all bad — he did direct 1996’s excellent “The Long Kiss Goodnight,” his best film, and one hell of a twisty noir.