Jenna Ortega opens up about her exit from ‘Scream 7’ movie

Jenna Ortega has explained why she dropped out of Scream 7 movie.

In a new interview with The Cut, the Wednesday star dismissed the rumours surrounding her departure from the upcoming movie.

Jenna, who joined the Scream franchise in 2023 for its sixth movie, was expected to reprise her role as Tara Carpenter, the younger sister of Melissa Barrera’s Sam, in the upcoming installment.

However, in November 2023, reports broke that Jenna exited from the movie due to “scheduling conflicts”. The news came the day after Melissa was fired from the movie over comments she made about Israel-Palestine on social media.

“It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling,” clarified the 22-year-old.

Jenna told the outlet, “The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart.”

The time when the actress decided to leave the franchise, directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin had also dropped out of the project.

“If Scream VII 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,” added the You actress.

It is pertinent to mention that Neve Campbell would reprise her role of Sidney Prescott and Kevin Williamson going to direct the movie.

Interestingly, Courteney Cox would also set to reprise her role of Gale Weathers from the original movie. Other cast included Mason Gooding, Isabel May, Celeste O’Connor, Asa Germann, Mckenna Grace, Sam Rechner and Anna Camp.

Meanwhile, Scream 7 is all set to release in theatres on February 27, 2026.