Original “Scream 7” director Christopher Landon quit the horror sequel after receiving troubling, upsetting death threats.
In an interview with Vanity Fair published Tuesday, Landon revealed that he received a wave of vitriolic hatred following the departures of original “Scream 7” stars Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega so intense that he felt like he had no choice but to abandon the film’s director’s chair. “‘Scream’ was a very dark and tumultuous experience,” the filmmaker said.
“People were threatening to kill me and my family, to the point where the FBI was getting involved,” Landon, who has two young sons with husband Cody Morris, explained. “The head of security at various studios and the FBI had to examine the threats. It was highly aggressive and really scary.”
When Landon was selected as the director of “Scream 7,” he seemed like a natural choice to take over the franchise. In films like “Happy Death Day,” “Happy Death Day 2U” and “Freaky,” Landon demonstrated a crowd-pleasing knack for handling the same irreverent, horror-comedy tone associated with the “Scream” franchise. Coming off the success of 2022’s “Scream” and 2023’s “Scream VI,” the series seemed to be in a strong place, too.
That all, as Landon told Vanity Fair, “came tumbling down in an instant” when Barrera, who had previously starred as lead heroine Sam Carpenter in the “Scream” franchise’s two most recent installments, was fired in November 2023 over her pro-Palestinian social media posts condemning Israel’s post-Oct. 7 military attacks. The day after Barrera was fired by “Scream 7” production company Spyglass Media Group, it was announced that Jenna Ortega, who played Barrera’s screen sister Tara in “Scream” and “Scream IV,” would also not be returning.
“It was devastating to suddenly cancel everything,” Landon recalled. “I got messages saying, ‘I’m going to find your kids, and I’m going to kill them because you support child murder.’” Despite what some seemed to believe at the time, Landon had nothing to do with Barrera’s “Scream 7” termination.
“I did not fire her. 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,” he insisted. “I think in the absence of people understanding how Hollywood works and what the hierarchy is, the fans were like, ‘That’s the guy.’ And so they came for me, knives out.”
In December 2023, Landon announced that he would no longer be directing “Scream 7,” writing, “This will disappoint some and delight others. It was a dream job that turned into a nightmare.” Landon told Vanity Fair it was his decision to leave the “Scream” sequel and that he actually ignored the requests of its producers in doing so.
“They wanted me to continue on. They basically said, ‘You can restart it. You can figure it out.’ But the amount of abuse that I had to deal with—I decided I didn’t want to give any part of myself to that,” the director said. “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.”
Landon’s comments come the same week Ortega told The Cut she did not leave “Scream 7” because of scheduling conflicts, despite what initial reports said to the contrary. “It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling. The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart,” Ortega remembered. “If ‘Scream 7’ wasn’t going to be with that team of directors and those people I fell in love with, then it didn’t seem like the right move for me in my career at the time.”
Landon was ultimately replaced as “Scream 7” director by the franchise’s creator and original screenwriter, Kevin Williamson. The film marks the first time that Williamson has helmed one of the series’ installments himself.
Horror fans should not expect to see Landon’s once-planned remake of ‘Arachnophobia,’ either. The filmmaker revealed to TheWrap that he is no longer onboard that project due to “a classic case of creative differences.” Right now, he is instead on the verge of releasing his first directorial effort since 2023’s “We Have a Ghost,” the Meghann Fahy-starring thriller “Drop.”
“There’s no resentment at all,” Landon remarked to Vanity Fair of Williamson taking over for him. “What else are you going to do? Wallow? Then they win. My best revenge was making something cool, and I feel like I did with ‘Drop.’”
“Scream 7” is scheduled to hit theaters on February 27, 2026.
