Scream 7 pivots on big returns and a costly script redo

Melissa Barrera was fired from Scream 7 over Gaza-comments that production called anti-Semitic, prompting a full rewrite managed by Spyglass with Kevin Williamson directing/co-writing at a cost of about $500,000. Neve Campbell was lured back for $7 million (Courteney Cox earned $2 million) against a roughly $45 million budget, helping set the stage for what may be the franchise’s biggest opening despite multiple director changes and cast shakeups.