You guys, Jenna Ortega told ‘Scream 7’ to take a hike so she could kill a unicorn with Ant-Man and I’m… concerned

While Jenna Ortega won’t appear in Scream 7 (after screaming that many times, maybe her vocal cords are overstretched), the actress is keeping busy in the form of Death of A Unicorn. 

Ortega dropped out of the seventh installment of the slasher franchise this year due to scheduling conflicts… and perhaps a slight dose of behind-the-scenes drama. At the time, the actress’ role in season 2 of Wednesday was cited as the reason for her departure from Scream 7, but her filming schedule was already bustling as she jumped on board an A24 project about… well, the death of a unicorn. Produced by A24 (home to tons of off-kilter titles), Ortega’s most curious yet exciting project has released its official poster, ahead of its arrival in cinemas in the spring of 2025. 

The poster for Death of a Unicorn takes its title quite literally, showing the mythological creature cloaked in a blanket after presumably becoming the victim of roadkill. That, too, goes some way in explaining the film’s premise, which follows a father and daughter who accidentally run over a unicorn and are forced to deal with the consequences of their magical discovery. That alone earns points for originality (something that can’t be said for Scream 7), but anticipation is also heightened by the film’s starry cast. 

Alongside Ortega, Death of a Unicorn will star Ant-Man’s Paul Rudd as the second half of the daddy-daughter duo, proving that between ants and unicorns, the actor is tackling the animal kingdom one movie at a time. The cast also includes Saltburn’s Richard E. Grant, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s Will Poulter and Jurassic Park III’s Téa Leoni. While the stain of Quantumania and Ortega’s departure from a leading role in a blockbuster horror franchise might seem like a cause for concern, Death of a Unicorn is generating some pretty promising buzz for a few reasons. 

For starters, the combination of an original premise with an A24 production credit has spelled success for previous films like The Lobster (I’m sensing an animal theme here) and The Lighthouse, but Death of a Unicorn earns extra intrigue with its director. The movie — which was one of the few allowed to continue production during last year’s Hollywood strikes — is helmed by Alex Scharfman in what will be his feature-film debut, but he already has producer credits on films like Blow the Man Down and Resurrection. 

Notably, it was reported last year that Death of a Unicorn was produced by Ari Aster, the twisted mind behind A24 juggernauts like Midsommar, Hereditary, and Beau Is Afraid.  What’s more, Death of a Unicorn is billed as a black comedy, so it will be exciting to see Ortega flex her funny bone beyond the deadpan signature of Wednesday. We’ll know a bit more about the film’s potential once the official trailer lands. 

Meanwhile, on the Scream front, the seventh installment has endured waves of setbacks and negative headlines following the firing of castmate Melissa Barrera due to her pro-Palestine social media posts earlier this year. Despite that, filming for Scream 7 reportedly started this month, but given all the hullabaloo and the implications of being attached to a languishing franchise, perhaps it’s better that Ortega hitched herself to another wagon, even if that wagon went on to run over a unicorn.