‘Scream VI’ Loses Director Christopher Landon

Citing “a dream job that turned into a nightmare”, Landon took to social media to announce that he departed the ‘Scream’ directing job weeks ago, leaving the movie in limbo.

Christopher Landon attends Netflix's 'We Have A Ghost' Premiere on February 22, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.

Preview:

Director Christopher Landon announced via social media that he’s left the new ‘Scream’ Movie.
The move follows the firing of Melissa Barrera and the departure of co-star Jenna Ortega.
‘Scream VII’ is currently not dated for release.

‘Scream VII’ is starting to feel like a victim of its own iconic Ghostface killer, hunted down by the forces of bad luck and bad karma. The latest strike is the departure of director Christopher Landon, who follows stars Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega away from the movie (the actors departed for different reasons, more on that below).

Landon, who previously directed the ‘Happy Death Day’ movies and ‘Freaky’ was hired back in August to take over stewardship of the new movie after Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who effectively rebooted the ‘Scream’ franchise with last year’s ‘Scream’ and followed it up with this year’s ‘Scream VI’.

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Christopher Landon on his departure

Christopher Landon attends Netflix's 'We Have A Ghost' Premiere on February 22, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.

Landon, in a twitter post, explained his moving on and the reasons for it:

“I guess now is as good a time as any to announce I formally exited ‘Scream 7’ weeks ago. This will disappoint some and delight others. It was a dream job that turned into a nightmare. And my heart did break for everyone involved. Everyone. But it’s time to move on. I have nothing more to add to the conversation other than I hope Wes’ legacy thrives and lifts above the din of a divided world. What he and Kevin created is something amazing and I was honored to have even the briefest moment basking in their glow.”

Why is Jenna Ortega not returning for the seventh ‘Scream’ movie?

Jenna Ortega attends the world premiere of Netflix's 'Wednesday' on November 16, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images for Netflix.

Officially, the story, according to Deadline is one of scheduling issues brought about because of the actors’ strike –– Ortega has a few days’ work left to complete ‘Beetlejuice 2’ and will spend a chunk of next year filming the second season of hit Netflix series ‘Wednesday’ in Ireland.

With ‘Scream’ looking to get the movie going ahead now the strikes are over, it appeared she simply won’t have time to make both projects.

We’re still not certain why Spyglass (and studio Paramount) couldn’t simply hit pause until Ortega had space in her schedule, but of course the franchise needs to rumble on.

Yet the timing is also intriguing given the other big ‘Scream’ wrinkle…

What happened with Melissa Barrera and ‘Scream’?

(L to R) Melissa Barrera (Sam Carpenter) and Jenna Ortega (Tara Carpenter) stars in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group's 'Scream VI.'

Why are we a little suspicious of the timing? The Ortega news arrives one day after her co-star Melissa Barrera was dropped from the franchise for social media posts supporting Palestine in the tragic, ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

While calling for a cease fire in the conflict might not seem all that controversial, some of the reposts on Barrera’s Instagram account have edged over into potentially troubling opinions on Jews.

‘Scream’ production company Spyglass issued a statement on the situation:

“Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”