Jenna Ortega & Melissa Barrera’s “Scream” Debuts at the Top of the Box Office Charts

Jenna Ortega & Melissa Barrera have plenty of reason to scream

Scream, starring the 19-year-old Mexican American & Puerto Rican actress and the 31-year-old Mexican actress, has dethroned Spider-Man: No Way Home over the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, becoming the first film to unseat the superhero phenomenon since it debuted on December 17.

Jenna Ortega & Melissa BarreraThe slasher revival grossed $34 million from 3,664 locations to top the box office. The impressive haul means that Paramount and Spyglass Media, the companies behind the reboot, will have one very profitable movie on their hands. Scream cost a mere $25 million to produce.

Scream has brought back a moribund franchise to life, introducing younger audiences to a series of films that had been left for dead after the box office disappointment of 2011’s Scream 4.

The key to its appeal was that Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the directing duo behind Ready or Not, paid homage to the films that came before Scream while updating the series with a savage twist on toxic fandom that resonated with younger crowds.

The filmmakers brought back series veterans Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette and paired them with newcomers like Barrera, Ortega, Jack Quaid and Dylan Minnette. And the DNA remained largely the same — once again, a serial killer in a Ghostface mask comes up with grisly and creative ways to dispatch the townspeople of Woodsboro, California, an idyllic community with a great school system and a shockingly low life expectancy.

Jenna Ortega to Star in “Scream 5”

Jenna Ortega could just scream

The 17-year-old Puerto Rican and Mexican American actress has been cast in Spyglass Media Group and Paramount Pictures’ upcoming Scream 5. 

Jenna Ortega

Ortega, who recently starred in season two of Netflix’s You, joins franchise cast members David Arquette and Courteney Cox, who’ll reprise their respective roles as Dewey Riley and Gale Weathers, as well as newcomer Melissa Barrera.  

The production will shoot in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Scream is being directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick.

Scream creator Kevin Williamson and Chad Villella are executive producing.

Throughout four installments, the Scream franchise counts over $600M at the global box office. The films were directed by late horrormeister Wes Craven with Williamson penning the original film as well as Scream 2 and Scream 4.

Ortega previously starred on the CW’s Jane the Virginas Young Jane.

She can next be seen in Yes Day starring Jennifer Garner and The Babysitter: Killer Queen with Bella Thorne.

Ortega recently wrapped filming on Songbird opposite Demi Moore and Bradley Whitford, which was one of the first notable feature productions to shoot in Los Angeles after the pandemic shutdown.

Melissa Barrera to Star in “Scream 5”

Melissa Barrera is ready to Scream…

The 30-year-old Mexican actress, who recently ended her three-season run on Starz’s Vida, has landed akey role in Scream 5.

Melissa Barrera

Barrera is the first new cast member to be announced for the anticipated Spyglass Media and Paramount Pictures relaunch.

Friends alum and legacy cast member Courteney Cox will be reprising her role in the franchise as dogged reporter Gale Weathers alongside David Arquette, who is coming back as Dewey Riley. Neve Campbell, who portrayed Sidney Prescott in the slasher film, told press in May that she was in talks to join the movie.

Cameras are due to roll in Wilmington, North Carolina, this fall and the project is due to wrap by year’s end. Additional casting is underway on the ensemble horror.

Scream 5 is being directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick.

Creator Kevin Williamson and Chad Villella are executive producing.

The Scream franchise, through four films dating back to 1996, has grossed more than $600M at the global box office. The late Wes Craven directed all four movies. Williamson wrote the original film as well as Scream 2 and Scream 4.

Barrera, who was named to Variety’s 10 Latinxs to Watch list earlier this year, will next appear in Warner Bros.’ film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning Broadway musical hit In The Heights. That film is due for release next year.

This fall she’ll star as the title character in the film Carmen, the modern-day reimagining of the classic opera. The movie will mark the feature debut of Black Swan choreographer Benjamin Millepied and will feature music from composer Nicholas Britell and Grammy winner Julieta Venegas.