{
  "id": 12506480,
  "title": "Skeet Ulrich Says His ‘Scream’ Arc Couldn’t Be Completed After Melissa Barrera’s Firing: ‘There’s No Billy Loomis’ Without Her",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/07/skeet-ulrich-says-his-scream-arc-couldnt-be-completed-after-melissa",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-07T00:46:31.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Variety",
    "slug": "variety",
    "url": "https://variety.com/2026/film/news/skeet-ulrich-scream-melissa-barrera-1236903923/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Skeet Ulrich, who played Billy Loomis in the Scream franchise, says his character's three-film arc couldn't be completed after Melissa Barrera was fired. Barrera played Sam Loomis, Billy's daughter, and appeared in hallucinations to her in the 2022 and 2023 films. Ulrich told US Weekly that without Barrera and her character Sam, \"there's no Billy Loomis.\"\n\nBarrera was fired from the franchise in 2023 after making pro-Palestinian statements on social media. Her departure led to a shakeup of the film, with director Christopher Landon and co-star Jenna Ortega also leaving. The story was reworked to focus on Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott and her daughter.\n\nUlrich's character Billy was a Ghostface killer in the original 1996 Scream film. He reprised the role in the fifth and sixth installments as a hallucination to Sam. According to Variety, Ulrich explained that he won't return to the franchise without Barrera, as her character was integral to his storyline.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "TheWrap",
        "title": "Skeet Ulrich Explains Why He Can’t Finish His 3-Film ‘Scream’ Arc After Melissa Barrera Firing",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/skeet-ulrich-explains-why-he-cant-finish-his-3-film-scream-arc-after",
        "published": "2026-10-06T19:10:09.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The A.V. Club",
        "title": "Skeet Ulrich says Melissa Barrera's Scream firing halted Billy's 3-film arc",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/skeet-ulrich-says-melissa-barreras-scream-firing-halted-billys-3-film",
        "published": "2026-10-06T19:28:18.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Deadline",
        "title": "Skeet Ulrich On Not Completing ‘Scream’ “Three-Film Arc”: “Without Melissa Barrera & Sam Loomis, There’s No Billy Loomis”",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/skeet-ulrich-on-not-completing-scream-three-film-arc-without-melissa",
        "published": "2026-10-06T23:26:06.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}