Topline
Original “Scary Movie” stars Anna Faris and Regina Hall will return to the franchise for its sixth installment next year, writer Marlon Wayans confirmed Friday, in the first addition to the nearly-billion-dollar franchise in more than a decade.
Regina Hall and Anna Faris.
FilmMagic
Key Facts
The pair will reunite for “Scary Movie 6,” slated for release on June 12, 2026, which will be the first time franchise creators and brothers Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans and Keenen Ivory Wayans will write an original script together in 18 years.
The Wayans brothers, who also had roles in the first two films, Faris and Hall are the only actors confirmed for the project so far, but rumors have circulated that Chris Elliott, who went on to find TV fame in “Schitt’s Creek,” may also return.
The “Scary Movie” franchise is a series of horror movie parody films that surged to popularity in the early 2000s and grossed $429 million domestically and $818 million globally from 2000 to 2006.
A fifth movie, which was made seven years after the first and starred none of the original actors, grossed an additional $32 million domestically and $78.3 million globally in 2013.
“Scary Movie 6” will be a franchise reboot not directly tied to the timeline of the earlier films.
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Key Background
Faris and Hall starred as characters Cindy Campbell and Brenda Meeks, respectively, in the first four “Scary Movie” parody films from 2000 to 2006. Cindy, based on Sidney Prescott from “Scream” and Julie from “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” is franchise’s main character and Meeks, based on Karla in “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer” and Maureen in “Scream 2,” is her best friend. Meeks was killed off in both “Scary Movie” and “Scary Movie 3,” but returned in the subsequent films with no explanation. The first film parodies mostly “Scream” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer” but also takes elements from “The Exorcist,” “The Shining,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “The Sixth Sense” and other films. The first movie, which grossed $157 million to become one of the highest-grossing R-rated horror movies of all time, received mixed reviews from critics, with one saying it was “practically guaranteed to make you laugh until you’re ashamed of yourself.” “Scary Movie” went on to inspire a spoof film trend that continued throughout the aughts and saw the release of films like “Not Another Teen Movie,” “Date Movie,” “Another Gay Movie” and “Superhero Movie.”
Big Number
4%. That is the critics score on Rotten Tomatoes for “Scary Movie 5,” the worst-reviewed of the bunch. “Scary Movie” has a 51% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, “Scary Movie 2” a 13%, “Scary Movie 3” a 35% and “Scary Movie 4” has a 34% critics score.
Surprising Fact
Despite the mixed ratings, the franchise was a staple of the early 2000s and drew big names for cameos including Charlie Sheen, Linday Lohan, James Van Der Beek, Tori Spelling and Jenny McCarthy.
What We Don’t Know
What movies “Scary Movie 6” will parody. The film has more than a decade of material to draw from, and fans have speculated “Hereditary,” “Midsommar” and “M3GAN” are likely to make the cut.
Further Reading