Melissa Barrera Claims Studio Misled Fans About Scream 7’s Success

So, Scream 7 managed to do something that's both weirdly impressive and baffling at the same time—it got absolutely slammed by critics and fans, but supposedly smashed the franchise box-office record, pulling in more than $213 million worldwide. Except, not everyone buys those numbers. And you know what? The drama around this movie has more twists than Ghostface's entire murder spree.

Melissa Barrera Isn't Buying the Hype

Melissa Barrera, who played Sam Carpenter in Scream (the rebooted ones), recently chatted with Variety. When the interviewer bluntly said Scream 7 'sucked,' Barrera was right there with them: 'I know. And I think they lied about the numbers. I don’t think it made that much money.'

Considering her history with this series, that's pretty bold—but she definitely doesn’t feel the need to hold back. Her skepticism on those box-office figures is kind of a perfect capstone to how absolutely chaotic Scream 7's production saga turned out.

A Franchise Unraveling in Public

Here’s a quick breakdown of all the curveballs Scream 7 threw before it ever hit screens:

• Barrera and Jenna Ortega were supposed to return as the Carpenter sisters, but Spyglass fired Barrera after social media posts the company called anti-Semitic (Barrera called them pro-Palestinian; make of that what you will). Ortega exited the project not long after.
• Director Christopher Landon bailed, saying the job turned from his 'dream' to an outright nightmare. Not super subtle.
• Still, the rest of the cast came back—including Neve Campbell, who’d actually sat out the last movie over a pay dispute. Apparently, they finally coughed up enough cash this time around.

Now, Variety also asked Barrera about the vibe among the surviving cast who went ahead with Scream 7 after those controversial firings. Did she see them as crossing the picket line? Calling them 'scabby'? Barrera didn’t mince words: 'Oh, one hundred percent. I think they all are. And they have to live with that.' She also threw a little shade at the movie’s attempt to bring back Campbell, basically calling the whole thing a nostalgia cash-in: 'The only way they were able to make that movie after what happened was to nostalgia-bait as much as possible.'

The Reviews—Yeah, Not Great

Let’s just say Scream 7 did not exactly win over our own writers. Tyler Nichols, who’s basically a Scream superfan, called out just how thin the new characters were and described the final act as the worst in franchise history:

'Most of the new characters are simple set dressing or fodder for kills. I get that this is a slasher but no one even feels dimensional and they hardly get any characterization. With the worst final act in Scream history, I feel like it’s definitely time to put this franchise to bed.'

On the flip side, Mike Conway found a bit more to appreciate—though he was clear it's not for everyone. He pointed out that if you ignore the behind-the-scenes mess, you still get a 'lean, mean slasher' and doubled down on the idea that Scream only really works when it’s centered on Neve Campbell's character.

But regardless of review carnage and box office accusations, the franchise is not slowing down. Spyglass already hired writers Lilla and Nora Zuckerman (from Poker Face) to script Scream 8. No word on cast, new blood, or whether the next movie will have fewer awkward controversies—or be any good.