Skeet Ulrich Opens Up About Melissa Barrera’s Exit & the Lost Vision for Scream 7
So there’s been a lot of conversation resurfacing around Melissa Barrera, and now we’re learning even more about what could have happened in the original version of Scream 7 . And honestly, the behind-the-scenes story is almost as dramatic as the movies themselves.
Skeet Ulrich, who fans know as the original Ghostface Billy Loomis, recently revealed that he was originally set to return for the seventh film—but that plan was dropped after Barrera’s firing. He explained that he’s “not involved” anymore, and a big part of that is because his character was directly tied to Sam Carpenter, Barrera’s character. In the last two films, Billy appears as a hallucination guiding—or sometimes haunting—Sam, and the planned trilogy arc was meant to continue exploring that twisted father-daughter dynamic.
Also Read:- Olivia Dean Pushes Ticketmaster to Act After Fan Backlash
- Jordi Cruyff Reveals the “Special Player” Barcelona Nearly Signed Instead of Man Utd
According to Ulrich, the original idea for Scream 7 was actually “really, really interesting.” When he first agreed to return for Scream (2022) and Scream VI , he was told it would be a three-movie arc where Billy slowly influenced Sam’s psychological unraveling. And here’s where it gets wild: he hinted that Sam might have eventually become the killer. That’s right—Barrera’s heroine, who had spent two movies resisting her father’s legacy, was apparently being set up to cross the line in the grand finale. Barrera herself once said she’d love to play Ghostface, and it seems the creative team was seriously considering it.
But none of that survived the fallout. Spyglass fired Barrera in November 2023 over posts she made regarding the Israel-Hamas war, saying her comments crossed the company’s lines on hate speech. After she was let go, Jenna Ortega also exited the project, and director Christopher Landon stepped away soon after. That version of Scream 7 essentially collapsed.
The franchise has since been rebuilt from the ground up. The new Scream 7 , arriving February 27, 2026, brings back Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott in a true return to her lead role, along with Courteney Cox, Matthew Lillard, Scott Foley, David Arquette, and several new cast members. Kevin Williamson, the original 1996 writer, is directing this time, giving longtime fans a sense of coming full circle.
Ulrich, for his part, says he’s excited to see what the new creative team does—but he acknowledged that without Sam, there was simply no place for Billy Loomis in the story anymore. The psychological storyline that tied them together disappeared overnight.
It’s fascinating to think about the version of the movie that might have been—Sam spiraling, Billy tightening his grip, and a potential Ghostface twist unlike any before. But the franchise has taken a very different turn now, and fans will get to see just how much the tone, focus, and legacy of Scream shift without Melissa Barrera’s character at the center of it all.
Read More:
0 Comments