From the start, Jeepers Creepers 3 has been marred in controversy. And it's possible that controversy has lost the sequel a key cast member in the form of Adrienne Barbeau. Though she was included in the full cast breakdown for this upcoming horror movie, the scream queen is confirming that she is not participating in this tale of a monster who wants to collect a young man's eyeballs. She says this on her official Facebook.

"Contrary to what has been reported, I will not be joining the cast of Jeepers Creepers 3. It's a great script and if you liked the first two, you'll love this one."

Adrienne Barbeau was originally set to play a character named Gaylen Brandon. As you can see from her own admission, she has read the script, so at one point she was interested in joining this sequel. Bloody Disgusting report that their source, who is 100% reliable, claims Barbeau is still listed on the call sheets, indicating that she had indeed been cast at one point in time.

The speculation is that she either walked away after being cast, or that her character is supposed to be a surprise. Bloody Disgusting strongly hint that the controversy surrounding the movie may have been what caused her to leave the project.

There has been a strong backlash against Jeepers Creepers 3, all steaming from director Victor Salva's past. The movie was originally supposed to shoot in Canada, but that got canceled over the filmmaker's past digressions. The movie then got a late start in Baton Rouge, and is now filming as we speak.

As many well know, Victor Salva is a convicted child molester who video taped himself engaging in oral sex with a minor. There have been a number of online petitions and protests against the sequel happening at all. And the call to cancel the movie has only grown since it went into production. There is some heavily speculation that Barbeau learned of Salva's sordid past and decided she couldn't be a part of the movie any longer. This has not been confirmed by anyone directly involved with the movie, and is only speculation at this point. There is a petition at change.org that is catching some fire. It states the following.

"Jeepers Creepers 3 is currently in production. The director and creator of this franchise, Victor Salva, used his position to rape a 12 year old boy in 1988 during the filming of the movie Clownhouse. He was convicted and served a measly 15 months in prison. As the three largest movie theater chains in the US, I urge you to not show this movie at your theaters. The profits from Jeepers Creepers 3 line the pockets of a pedophile. Monsters belong on the screen, not behind the camera.  I also urge other members of the horror movie community to take a stance. Spread the word and don't watch this film!"

As of now, Jeepers Creepers 3 has not been directly influenced or halted because of these petitions. And we'll have to wait until the movie hits theaters to see if they have any effect on box office. The Jeepers Creepers movies are still quite popular with horror and monster movie fans. Though a lot of them are only now starting to learn the behind the scenes scandal that helps fuel some of the themes in this particular set of films.