The Wayans’ New Scary Movie Return Addressed By Director Who Replaced Them 23 Years Ago

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The Wayans family has returned with another installment of Scary Movie, and both dedicated fans and newcomers are excited about it.

The new movie is written by Rick Alvarez, Craig, Keenen Ivory, Marlon, and Shawn Wayans – with Marlon and Shawn Wayans also returning as actors. It’s mostly a spoof of the recent horror films Scream (2022) and Halloween (2018). Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back as Cindy Campbell and Brenda Meeks, and the story brings the original group together again when a killer resembling Ghostface appears.

David Zucker, the creator of classics like Airplane! and The Naked Gun, recently told ScreenRant that the Wayans family might return for a new Scary Movie film. He was speaking ahead of a screening and Q&A at the Netflix is a Joke festival. Zucker originally took over the Scary Movie franchise from the Wayans brothers 23 years ago, directing the third installment.

As a big fan of the Scary Movie franchise, I was really pleased to hear Paramount went back to the original creators for a sixth film. It’s like they finally got it right – you know how a broken clock is right twice a day? They really messed up the last Naked Gun by switching things up, so this feels like a smart move. And honestly, the Wayans family is just hilarious – wonderfully talented guys. I saw the trailer and it looked fantastic! I genuinely think this one has a real shot at doing well in theaters, and I’m excited to see it.

David Zucker believes live audience reactions are crucial for theatrical comedies, and he’s hoping a return to theaters will happen. He thought ‘Naked Gun 4′ might encourage that, but it didn’t work out well. He’s optimistic about the Wayans brothers’ new project and wishes them success, hoping it will be a hit and bring audiences back to the cinema.

As a big fan of these comedies, it’s always interesting to hear how different creative teams approach the same material. Jerry Zucker recently talked about the Wayans brothers and how their comedy style is just totally different from his and his partners, Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker. He remembered an interview with Marlon Wayans where Marlon basically said you can’t do what the Wayans do – and Zucker completely agreed! They didn’t even try to replicate that style when they made their Scary Movie films. Instead, they aimed for a PG-13 rating and created what he called ‘the Naked Gun version’ of the franchise – focusing on visual gags and a different kind of humor.

David Zucker feels very proud of how well both of his movies did. He hopes their success will bring the franchise back to life and inspire other studios to work with the people who originally created their properties.

Following the success of the first two Scary Movie films, developing the third one became complicated for the Wayans family. They were having disagreements with Miramax about money, as Marlon Wayans stated the studio offered a deal that would have meant less pay for the filmmakers. Instead, the Wayans brothers chose to work on their comedy idea White Chicks. Dimension Films then turned to David Zucker, who teamed up with Pat Proft and Craig Mazin (later known for The Last of Us) to write the screenplay.

As Zucker noted, the Scary Movie franchise continued to be successful with its third and fourth films, even after the Wayans family moved on. The third movie earned over $220 million globally, making it the second-highest grossing film in the series – only surpassed by the original, which made $278 million. The fourth film came in third with $178 million. Although both movies received mixed reviews, critics generally liked them more than the first Scary Movie sequel made by the Wayans family.

While David Zucker helped make the first few Scary Movie films successful, his later involvement didn’t fare as well. He co-wrote and co-produced Scary Movie 5, and also reportedly stepped in to rework parts of it. Although the film still made money, it was the lowest-performing in the series, earning only $78 million and receiving very negative reviews – just a 4% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This led to the franchise being put on hold indefinitely.

I’m really excited about the new Scary Movie! The director, Zucker, has said this one’s going to be different from the later films, and more like the first two – meaning way more R-rated humor, which is awesome. The trailers definitely seem to confirm that! Plus, they’re parodying a bunch of recent, popular horror movies like Get Out, Sinister, and The Substance, and the original creators are involved. It’ll be interesting to see if it can bring back that classic, theatrical comedy vibe when it comes out on June 5th. I’m hoping it does!

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2026-04-29 20:21