“Paramount has a blacklist of actors who criticize Israel,” said one sign carried by a protester. Others read, “Boycott Paramount+,” the studio that financed the movie. But the movie’s stars, including Neve Campbell, Isabel May, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette, walked the red carpet despite the protests.
Campbell, Cox, and Arquette starred in the original Scream movie, which was released 30 years ago, and several of the sequels. The Scream movies popularized the catchphrase, “What’s your favorite scary movie?” which the killer asked his victims by phone, and the “ghostface” killer’s mask, inspired by the Edvard Munch painting, “The Scream.”
The boycott calls came partly because actress Melissa Barrera was fired from the film over two years ago.
In 2023, shortly after the Hamas massacre of 1,200 people, that led to the outbreak of the war between Hamas and Israel, Barrera, one of the stars of the previous two Scream films, posted on her social media accusing Israel of “genocide and ethnic cleansing,” and using “the Holocaust to boost the Israeli arms industry.”
Spyglass Media, the production company behind the film, fired Barrera, releasing a statement to Variety, saying, “Spyglass’s stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”
The sign that alleged a blacklist was apparently a reference to David Ellison, the Jewish owner of Skydance, which acquired Paramount in November. Rumors have circulated that Ellison keeps a list of those who are anti-Israel.
Kevin Williamson, who wrote and directed Scream 7 and who also wrote the first four movies, was interviewed by Deadline on the red carpet and said, “We live in America. Everyone has a right to protest, and everyone should be heard. And if you have your truth and if you want to stand up and be heard, you protest. That is your right in this country, and I stand by it. I support that 100 percent.”
While Williamson voiced support for the call to boycott his movie, Scream fans were buying tickets. Multiple industry websites that track box office revenue reported that ticket presales for Scream 7 were high. Boxoffice Pro wrote on Wednesday: “Paramount Pictures’ Scream 7 is currently tracking for a franchise-best debut.
The recent Super Bowl trailer, as well as a marketing campaign centered on Neve Campbell’s Sydney Prescott's return to headline a film in the series, has helped the title after the departure of the two prior stars from the project.
Opening weekend should hover around $50 million, with a potential to over-perform up to the $60m. mark.” In the “cons” section for why the film might not do as well as expected, the boycott calls were not mentioned, and the site discussed factors such as “creative upheaval,” meaning there were crew and cast changes (including the departure of Barrera, but without referencing the reason for her dismissal) and bad weather.