Fans of the Scream series have had a plethora of new material to devour over the last several years with a successful reboot and subsequent sequel to a new movie from original screenwriter Kevin Williamson (Scream 7) on the way in 2026. But, this joyous time in a Scream fan’s life hasn’t come without its fair share of behind-the-scenes drama.
In Ashley Cullins’ new book, Your Favorite Scary Movie: How the Scream Films Rewrote the Rules of Horror (out August 19), she tracks the early days of the original film about a murder mystery in a small, sleepy California town to the scrapped Scream 7 movie that saw its leading actress fired and its director and supporting lead quit the project in pre-production.
In the book, Christopher Landon discusses his short but tumultuous time on the Scream 7 film that nearly was. Landon (Freaky, Happy Death Day) entered the project after Scream (2022) and Scream VI directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett exited, but things rapidly began to fall apart. Quickly after signing onto the project, the leading actress from the previous two films, Melissa Barrera, was fired by production company Spyglass Entertainment after her vocal posts about the Israeli Army and conflict in Gaza.
A move that sent the internet into a frenzy and found Landon at the center of a controversy he had no control over. It would be more than a month before Landon officially left the project, but in Cullins’ new book, Landon says he left “about a week after” the firing of Melissa Barrera.
Landon discusses why he waited to announce his departure earlier. “I was still sorting through my feelings about everything that had happened. When it all went down, it was something I was trying to process in a private and balanced way,” Landon said. “When you’re a public facing person, often people don’t like that. People want an immediate reaction, and they want you to agree with them.”
Once Barrera was fired, it became evident that Landon wasn’t going to direct Scream 7. “There was no movie anymore. The whole script was about her,” he said, referring to her character, Sam Carpenter, the daughter of past Ghostface killer Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich). “I didn’t sign on to make ‘a Scream movie.’ I signed on to make that movie. When that movie no longer existed, I moved on.”
Since leaving Scream 7, Landon directed the thrill ride Drop, while original Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson stepped in to direct Scream 7, with original series lead Neve Campbell returning.
Scream fans can learn more details in Your Favorite Scary Movie: How the Scream Films Rewrote the Rules of Horror while we patiently wait for the next series installment set to hit theaters on February 26, 2026.
Leave your thoughts on this Scream news below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more movie news can visit our Movie News Page, our Movie News Twitter Page, and our Movie News Facebook Page. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Mobile App, Google News, Apple News, Feedly, Twitter, Faceboo