'Boycott Scream 7': Fans rally behind Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega

Scream 7 is being haunted by controversy.

The first trailer for Scream 7 has sparked major boycott, with fans rallying behind Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega nearly two years after their exits from the franchise.

The backlash first erupted after Spyglass Media fired Barrera in 2023 over her social media comments about “atrocities being committed against Palestinians,” followed shortly by the Wednesday star’s departure. Barrera and Ortega played sisters Sam and Tara Carpenter in Scream VI.

“This is missing two very important women…” one fan wrote on X alongside the latest trailer, released October 30. Another added alongside a still from Scream VI, “Where the Scream franchise ended for me.”

Others called to “Boycott Scream 7 and support Scary Movie 6 instead,” referring to the upcoming Wayans Brothers movie which began as a spoof of the first Scream movie in 1996.

The movement has since gained momentum, with the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement now campaigning against the film. According to reports, 22 arts and advocacy organizations have joined the call.

Meanwhile, fans are directing support toward Barrera’s upcoming projects, including Your Monster and The Copenhagen Test, set to premiere later this year.

Scream 7 is set to hit theaters on February 27, 2026. It will mark the return of Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, the OG “final girl,” after she sat out Scream VI due to a pay dispute. The latest installment also revives other legacy characters, including OG Ghostface Matthew Lillard (Stu) and David Arquette’s Dewey Riley, who was killed in Scream 5. Arquette’s ex-wife Courteney Cox will also revive her role.

Some newcomers include Pitch Perfect star Anna Camp and Isabel May as Prescott’s daughter, the latest target of Ghostface.