An .. interesting Variety interview with Melissa Barrera tackles her fallout and firing from the ‘Scream’ franchise after she posted messages on social media about the Israel-Gaza war that the studio Spyglass Media said crossed the line into antisemitic hate speech.
Her firing eventually led to total overhaul in the production of “Scream 7” (including the departures of key creatives like co-star Jenna Ortega and director Christopher Landon). However, most affected was Barrera who saw opportunities shrink, and she fully admits that in the interview.
What she also didn’t expect? That “Scream 7” would become the biggest movie of the entire franchise, earning $214M worldwide, including a $63M domestic opening. If you ask Barrera, it was all a psyop, those numbers were meddled with. No, really — that’s what she slyly slips in the interview after agreeing that it “sucked”:
I think they lied about the numbers. I don’t think it made that much money.
The idea that the box office numbers for “Scream 7” were “lied about” is so dubious that I don’t even know where to begin.
Yes, I’ll fully admit the movie “sucked,” but it also definitely made the money reported. Film grosses are tracked independently by multiple third-party systems like Comscore, not just studios, making large-scale fabrication virtually impossible.
You’d think Barrera would know this, unless she also believes Comscore was part of the conspiracy.
Listen, Hollywood blacklists are a very real thing, and Barrera’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.
However, she comes across as disillusioned in suggesting that “Scream 7” wasn’t a success. Whether she cares to admit it, it’s worth noting that, with or without her involvement, the franchise will likely continue, and remain profitable due to the enduring popularity of the IP. That’s ultimately the bigger picture.