Making a movie is an incredibly complicated job, and making a smart movie is only part of the battle: you have to market it and then get it to the masses at the box office.
And while it’s laughable when a movie becomes a huge hit, it’s not uncommon for big, shiny studio poles to end up collapsing catastrophically, especially in recent times when the general public has needed a real occasion to get out of their homes. (see: Barbenheimer).
With so many major films from last year disappointing critics and failing to engage audiences, it’s easy to point fingers at upcoming endangered projects that are arguably already doomed to fail. These films, regardless of the talented cast and crew, are all very likely to burn out with critics or audiences, or perhaps more likely either in some cases.
Though it’d certainly be great to see these movies defy expectations and turn in stronger results than anyone expected, that’s looking incredibly improbable at present. Instead, expect these films to all suffer one way or another when they release in the near-future…
On paper, releasing a seventh Scream movie has been a breeze, especially since Scream VI was a real hit, grossing more money at the box office than any of the last three entries in the franchise.
Even with two recent Hollywood moves slowing down Scream 7’s progression, Paramount is still keen to get the ball rolling in 2024, and Christopher Landon was shown to direct the sequel over the summer.
But while Landon’s update to update the administrators of the last two films, Radio Silence, didn’t raise any concerns, fans of the franchise were shocked when star Melissa Barrera was suddenly fired from the sequel via Spyglass Media Group due to professional-Palestinian social media posts that some manufacturers interpreted as anti-Semitic.
The next day, his co-star Jenna Ortega also announced his departure, officially claiming that it was due to scheduling conflicts with his Netflix series on Wednesday, though many noted the more than suspicious timing of his departure. Other reports, however, recommend that Ortega quietly left the suite months ago due to a pay dispute with Spyglass.
Either way, after Scream VI proved that the series could survive without Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), having its two new lead characters vanish without a trace for the seventh movie is a brutal blow.
While Scream VI can be considered a pretty decent end for Barrera and Ortega’s Carpenter sisters if they never return to the franchise, it leaves Scream 7 in an incredibly tricky situation. Will this force Spyglass to sell a large amount of cash?on Neve Campbell’s turf, or will they try to go ahead and make the two remaining members of the “Core Four,” Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding), the new protagonists?
Either way, in addition to the vocal outrage over Barrera’s firing, which indicates a potential fan boycott, it’s unlikely to diminish their expectations about what Scream 7 will end up being.
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