Original ‘Scream 7’ Director Exited Film Due to ‘Aggressive Death Threats’

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“Scream 7” was originally going to be a different movie with a different filmmaker. Christopher Landon was going to helm the film and told Vanity Fair it was his dream job. But everything fell apart rather quickly, and it was a series of death threats that were the final straw for Landon.

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Melissa Barrera was fired from “Scream 7” for posting what Spyglass Entertainment called “hate speech” – i.e. pro-Palestinian posts criticizing Israel. Jenna Ortega left the film the next day, but it was the controversy surrounding Barrera that seemed to have inspired the threats.

“People were threatening to kill me and my family, to the point where the FBI was getting involved,” Landon said. “I got messages saying, ‘I’m going to find your kids, and I’m going to kill them because you support child murder.’ … The head of security at various studios and the FBI had to examine the threats. It was highly aggressive and really scary.”

Landon made it clear that while many put the blame on his doorstep for Barrera’s firing, he “had no control of the situation at all.”

Landon says he was encouraged to not leave the project, but he had had enough. “They basically said, ‘You can restart it. You can figure it out,'” Landon said. “But the amount of abuse that I had to deal with — I decided I didn’t want to give any part of myself to that. For me, it was not worth it. I would rather put my efforts into something else, where I could feel appreciated and respected.”

Instead of “Scream 7,” Landon instead made “Drop,” whose official logline is “A widowed mother’s first date in years takes a terrifying turn when she’s bombarded with anonymous threatening messages on her phone during their upscale dinner, leaving her questioning if her charming date is behind the harassment.”

“My best revenge was making something cool, and I feel like I did with ‘Drop,'” Landon said. “My revenge wasn’t rooted in pain or anger; it was rooted in joy and moving forward.”

“Drop” releases in theaters this Friday, April 11.

Kevin Williamson replaced Landon as “Scream 7” director, and instead of Ortega and Barrera, “Scream 7” looks to be a nostalgia fest with Neve Campbell, Matthew Lillard, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Patrick Dempsey, and Scott Foley all returning.

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