In the year 2000 the art of the parody film had been waning. What had been so successfully done by people like Mel Brooks and the Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker team (“Airplane!” “Hot Shots,” “The Naked Gun”) had fallen by the wayside. It was time for something to come back to riff on movies and the Wayans Brothers (Marlon Wayans, Keenan Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans) were up to the task with “Scary Movie.”
The series of films would go on to span five titles in 13 years, but the Wayans Brothers were only involved in the first two. Now, almost 12 years later, the series is coming back with the Wayans Brothers behind it.
The Wayans Brothers will be back to relaunch the series. There have been no announcements as to when the film will return or who will be directing it. Keenen did direct the first two films, but is currently only listed as a writer for the upcoming reboot. It should be a positive change to have them driving the film forward, especially after the litany of horrible parody movies that came out since they left.
Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, the first film was written by a team of writers, including his siblings Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans. “Scary Movie” derived its name from what the working title for “Scream” was during its production. Naturally, it lampoons that movie along with other slashers of the time like, “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” and allusions to “The Blair Witch Project” and “Halloween.“ It was a very successful film, making $278 million on a $19 million budget. Was it good though? Eh, sources vary on that. One argument was that “Scream” itself was a satirical take on horror films, so what was the point of “Scary Movie?”
The second film saw diminishing returns and future installments for the series were handed off to David Zucker. It also turned the franchise into a much more PG version of itself, falling back on the typical ZAZ humor and bringing in veterans of those productions including Leslie Nielsen and writer Pat Proft. Sadly, it took the series further and further away from it roots and made it feel like a pale imitation of not just the former movies, but of the kind of parody films that came before it.
We’ll let you know what we hear about this and other projects. You can find “Scary Movie” streaming on Paramount+.
