What was the real reason behind Jenna Ortega's exit from Scream 7? Explained

Jenna Ortega's exit from the Scream franchise was one of the biggest developments when it happened back in November 2023. This also happened a day after star Melissa Barrera was fired from her role over her comments on the Israel-Hamas War. This led to all kinds of speculation about Ortega's exit, with most claiming she left the franchise because of Melissa Barrera.

At the time, reports stated that Jenna Ortega left because she was facing scheduling issues. But that is not the case, as confirmed by the Wednesday star in a new interview with The Cut, which was published very recently.

Addressing her exit from the Scream franchise, Ortega said:

"It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling...The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart."

Jenna Ortega said that she did not want to do the film after the known set of cast and crew members exited the film. This also included the directors, Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, who were behind Scream 6.

Ortega added:

"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"

She also said that she was trying to prioritize new directors and original stories at this point in her career, which is another reason she chose to pull away from the Scream franchise.

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"I’m really trying to prioritize new directors and original stories"- Jenna Ortega on her career goals right now

It seems that after Scream 7 suffered several setbacks, Jenna Ortega had the time to think about her involvement with the franchise and she decided that she wanted to pursue other kinds of work at the time.

She listed this as one of the primary reasons for not continuing with Scream 7, amidst other reasons of stars and creatives exiting the movie. She added about this in the same interview with The Cut:

"I’ve happened to join a lot of franchises, which is so great to be a part of legacy...But for me, I’m really trying to prioritize new directors and original stories. I know on the outside, maybe people are looking at my choices like, Man, what the hell is this girl doing? I never thought I would do a movie with unicorns. But an original script is exciting. If I can help get it made, I love to do that."

Jenna Ortega is not the only one who pulled away from participating in the film. Shortly after Barrera's firing, director Christopher Landon also left the project.

It was later handed over to Kevin Williamson, the franchise’s original screenwriter. Anyhow, the movie is still moving forward, and it will feature Neve Campbell, the original star of the franchise who did not return for the previous movie. The cast also includes Joel McHale and the pair of Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown from the previous movie.

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More updates about Scream 7 will arrive soon. Stay tuned.