Eleven years have gone by since the release of a new entry in the Scary Movie horror parody series – but the franchise isn’t going to remain dormant for much longer. Deadline reports that the Miramax label at Paramount, which is now operating under new boss Jonathan Glickman, has given the greenlight to a new Scary Movie sequel (which would be Scary Movie 6, if they continue putting numbers in the titles), with the plan being to get the film into theatres sometime in 2025. If any writers or a director are attached to the project, they weren’t named in this announcement.
Directed by In Living Color creator Keenen Ivory Wayans from a screenplay written by a bunch of people (Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg, and Aaron Seltzer), the first Scary Movie was released by Dimension Films back in 2000. Scary Movie 2 was released in 2001, and the Wayans remained at the head of the creative team for that one. Keenen Ivory Wayans directed it from a screenplay credited to Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Alyson Fouse, Greg Grabianski, Dave Polsky, Michael Anthony Snowden, and Craig Wayans.
There was a shake-up behind the scenes on 2003’s Scary Movie 3, as Dimension hired Airplane and The Naked Gun director David Zucker to take the helm. Zucker directed that film from a screenplay by Craig Mazin and Pat Proft. That trio returned for Scary Movie 4 in 2006, with Jim Abrahams also receiving a writing credit. Seven years later, Pat Proft and David Zucker came back to write Scary Movie 5, which was directed by Undercover Brother‘s Malcolm D. Lee.
The first Scary Movie was made on a budget of $19 million and earned $278 million at the box office, so the budgets increased for most of the sequels. Scary Movie 2 cost $45 million and made $141 million, Scary Movie 3 cost $48 million and made almost $221 million, and Scary Movie 4 was made for $40 million and earned $178 million at the box office. After the lengthy break between movies, Scary Movie 5 got a lower budget, dropping back down to $20 million. That was a good decision, because the film only made $78 million at the box office.
Scary Movie 5 was the only film in the franchise not to feature Anna Faris and Regina Hall as their characters Cindy Campbell and Brenda Meeks. In a 2022 interview, Faris said she would be willing to return for another sequel if the price was right (and she thought Hall would, too).
Are you a fan of the Scary Movie franchise, and are you glad to hear that Scary Movie 6 is in the works? Who would you like to see write and/or direct this film? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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