Marlon and Shawn Wayans, Regina Hall, and Anna Faris take EW behind the scenes of the rowdy return to the horror parody franchise, 25 years in the making.

Blood runs thicker: Inside the Scary Movie family reunion for an ‘edgy as f---’ new era

Marlon and Shawn Wayans, Regina Hall, and Anna Faris take EW behind the scenes of the rowdy return to the horror parody franchise, 25 years in the making.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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June 2, 2026 12:00 p.m. ET

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After 25 years, you'd be forgiven for thinking — despairing, really — that the formula for a perfect *Scary Movie** *has been forgotten. But the family that started it all remembers everything.**** "If you look at everything we've done — I don't care if it's *White Chicks*, I don't care if it's *Little Man* — all our movies are set pieces and jokes. It's joke, joke, joke, joke, joke. If we have a movie that's an hour and a half, we really want 88 minutes of jokes and two minutes of heart," Marlon Wayans tells ** on a recent May afternoon.

Shawn Wayans, his *Scary Movie *co-creator and the co-writer and costar of its long-awaited sixth entry (in theaters June 5), is quick to keep his brother humble.

"That's 30 seconds of heart and about five minutes of fart," he corrects.

There weren't any farts (at least that we know of), but there certainly were a few hours of laughs, and lots of love between the brothers, Regina Hall, and Anna Faris — the original core four of the beloved horror parody series — on the set of their EW cover shoot in early May. The foursome piled into a shower in Brooklyn's Samson Stages to parody *Psycho*… but with a *high-*brow twist. It's like no time's passed at all, even as their new installment — simply dubbed *Scary Movie* — hits theaters almost exactly 25 years after they all last shared the screen together in *Scary Movie 2*.

"Getting everybody back was *The Avengers*, bro," Marlon says, with Shawn on his heels again: "*The Avengers *with no money!"

Marlon has a quick retort this time, referring to the reunited *Scary Movie *family as "The Pretenders."

It was a long, rocky road back to *Scary Movie*, which was Faris' first audition, Hall's first big hit, and the Wayans' first blockbuster as writers. Made on a sub-$20 million budget, the flagship comedy* *grossed $278 million worldwide.

"They chased us at the premiere. They said, 'We want another movie next summer, the same date.’ And we didn't have a script," Marlon recalls.

*Scary Movie 2 *was nevertheless delivered on time, and again grossed many times its budget in 2001. But that didn't matter to Dimension Films, the franchise's distributor, which was then a label of Bob and Harvey Weinstein's Miramax Films.

The franchise was "taken from us," Marlon says. But Faris and Hall, whose hapless BFFs Cindy Campbell and Brenda Meeks had by then become its A-list faces, continued with *Scary Movie 3 *and *Scary Movie 4 *alone.

Marlon described the Weinsteins as "an evil regime" in a 2020 lookback on the first *Scary Movie*, saying the pair of producing moguls "do what they want to do, how they do it — and it can be rude and quite disrespectful." The Weinsteins lowballed the Wayans with an offer to return for *Scary Movie 3*, Marlon claimed, and they couldn't agree on a new deal. His response: "If you don't want to pay for the jokes, have somebody else do it."

That's exactly what they did, publicly firing Shawn and Marlon with a New Year's Eve press release announcing that *Scary Movie 3 *was moving on without them.

Marlon Wayans photographed exclusively for EW.

"I thought we were done with that franchise," Marlon says now. "I think it was COVID and the dismantling of the Weinstein regime. That's when I started going, *You know what? I think I got a really funny take on this. I think if we came back to the franchise, we can do something special.*"

The Weinsteins left Miramax in 2005, taking Dimension with them to the newly formed Weinstein Company. But in 2018, Harvey was arrested on charges including rape and sexual misconduct, and was eventually sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2023, though a recent rape retrial ended in a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a verdict. Bob was accused of sexual harassment in 2017, which he has denied. The following year, the Weinstein Company declared bankruptcy.

Throughout that time, fans never stopped pleading for more *Scary Movie*. Marlon recently told *Variety* that it was new Miramax CEO Jonathan Glickman who reached out two years ago to revive *Scary Movie*, which the Wayans were open to discussing because "me and my family don't hold grudges."

Faris, meanwhile, continued to field questions about the franchise long after her last turn as Cindy Campbell in 2006. But she was still shocked to learn that the series actually had a decent shot at resurrection.

"When Marlon called, and he said, 'We got the franchise back,' that truly was the first time I had talked to any Wayans brother in 25 years," Faris shares. "I had always wanted to. But honestly, I didn't know if they were mad at me for going on to do *Scary Movie 3* and *4*."

Marlon cleared the air in a previous interview with EW, in which he noted, "It was never personal with us; we always wished them well. *Scary Movie* launched all of us into outer space, so, for us to all come back... It's optimal nostalgia."

Anna Faris photographed exclusively for EW.

For Faris, the invite to board the first new *Scary Movie* in 13 years (she, the Wayans brothers, and Hall were not involved with 2013's *Scary Movie 5*) wasn't just an opportunity to heal old wounds or satisfy fan demand. It was existential.

"I had been coming around to the idea of Hollywood sort of putting me out to pasture. And that was okay," she confesses.

Then last January, the home she shares with her husband, Michael Barrett, and Jack, her son with ex Chris Pratt, burned down in the Palisades Fire. A month later, she got the call from Marlon.

"With the house burning down, there was a lot of taking stock. So to have this opportunity to thank them — I got to thank them every day. They were probably really annoyed with me," Faris jokes.

Regina Hall photographed exclusively for EW.

The offer to return hit differently for Hall, who was recently honored with some of the most glowing acclaim of her career for her dramatic turn in Paul Thomas Anderson's Best Picture Oscar winner, *One Battle After Another*. She worked with Marlon and several other members of the extended Wayans clan on 2013's *Second Generation Wayans *and 2017's *Naked*, so she had kept up with the fam in a way Faris hadn't.

Was Hall surprised that the Wayans had not only regained control of their franchise but were already prepared to enter development on a sixth installment?

"No, because it's very Wayans. That's what they do. They're always writing. So even with the script, they were like, 'Oh, we're just gonna put this in, this would ring more true, this is current,' to the last minute."

Production on *Scary Movie *commenced at the top of October 2025 at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, and wrapped at the end of November, with reshoots and additional photography to add in more recent references extending well into this spring.

"And I was excited that the release was June, so it wasn't going to be two years old," Hall continues. "Comedy is obviously more effective when it's connected to the culture."

Anna Faris and Regina Hall promise their long-awaited return to 'Scary Movie' will 'offend everyone' (exclusive)

Marlon Wayans explains the absence of a 'Scary Movie' OG in new film: 'Wasn't personal'

Deon Cole as Pastor Prime and Shawn Wayans as Ray in 'Scary Movie'.

Quantrell Colbert/Paramount

The Wayans have perfected the art of hyper-current cultural satires over the past two decades, crafting parody film after gonzo parody film with Michael Tiddes in the director's chair. But raunch fests like *Sextuplets *(2019), *Fifty Shades of Black *(2016), and even the original *Scary Movie *duology* *have nothing on the new entry, which squares off against contemporary culture in what Marlon likens to a bout of "bare-knuckle boxing."

COVID, #MeToo, ChatGPT, the Epstein files, OnlyFans, live streamers, ICE raids, the Jan. 6 insurrection, and the Kendrick-Drake rap battle all take blows in *Scary Movie*.

"But understand," Marlon cautions. "We're not punks. We're not afraid — we Wayans are not afraid to go there. But is it worth the goodness of your project to just be offensive?" This is bare-knuckle boxing alright, but "with kids' gloves on. For us, it's not about the blood. We're not trying to get blood, we're just trying to hit you in the face and get you one of those Fred Flintstone notches."

He and Shawn developed a simple metric for what stays and what goes, regarding the edgier bits.

"When we were doing test screenings, if it's everybody's favorite scene and least favorite scene, that scene I learned has to go, because it's divisive. I don't want any divisive scenes. Everything that was divisive, I took out of the movie," Marlon reveals.

Michael Tiddes directing Anna Faris in 'Scary Movie'.

Quantrell Colbert/Paramount

Tiddes has his own shorthand with the Wayans, developed over decades after they first collaborated on his feature directorial debut, 2013's *A Haunted House*. But he says their working relationship began a full decade earlier, right after the release of *Scary Movie 2*.

"I know it by now. When these guys write, they come to you, and they hand you a 200-page script, and you're like, 'Oh my goodness, this is a Bible of comedy,'" he explains.

Jokes, gags, set pieces, and even whole characters and storylines slowly get chiseled down and weeded out through development, production, and post-production.

"We really narrow it down to what exactly is the best of the best," he says. And in the case of *Scary Movie*, what matters most is that "each of these characters has a beginning, middle, and an end. That's always important."

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Shawn Wayans photographed exclusively for EW.

Three decades into a career defined by versatility, Hall's range has reached new heights. She follows *One Battle *with *Scary Movie*, and follows that with the frothy, *Big Little Lies*-indebted escape *The Five Star Weekend*. Given her fearless approach to project selection, did she hesitate returning to a character and a franchise she already knows inside and out?

"I do always love to try different things. I think it's interesting, and it keeps you on your toes. But *Scary Movie*'s different. It's a standalone. It's great doing something that an audience loves, and the audience loves Brenda. *Scary Movie* is the only time I'll ever get to be a Brenda," Hall says with a laugh. "Brenda's the worst friend, again, every movie. She will do anything to not help Cindy."

Across five films, Cindy and Brenda have been trading punches with possessed cats, outrunning evil skeletons, and doing high-wire, *Matrix-*style battle against knife-wielding maniacs. Well, at least Cindy's been fighting the good fight, which Brenda tricks her into waging alone every time. Both actresses say that fans are more invested in their bond than any other screen pairing in their respective careers.

"As we were shooting, I started to think about Cindy's deep love of Brenda and her friendship with Brenda. Cindy may now be a horrible mom, but she'd do anything for Brenda," Faris says. "I think they kept it in — I ad-libbed this line — 'I would do anything for you, Brenda.' And I mean it about Regina, too."

The sixth *Scary Movie *picks up decades after where the first *Scary Movie *left off. Indeed, Cindy and Brenda have both become moms: Cindy to two girls (played by Olivia Rose Keegan and Savannah Lee Nassif), and Brenda to a girl and a boy (Sydney Park and Gregg Wayans, the son of Marlon and Shawn's sister Diedra) — one of the many cues *Scary Movie *takes from what Tiddes calls the "heartbeat of the film," *Scream 5 *and *Scream 6*. As in those sequels, there's a new core four in town. But Cindy's *Halloween *Reboot Backwoods Paranoia, and Brenda's louche, party-forward approach to parenting haven't exactly set the next generation up to respond well when the Ghostface killer from the flagship returns to terrorize Cindy's youngest, Tuesday (wink).

Regina Hall photographed exclusively for EW.

The next generation wisely turns to a survivor of that original massacre for help: their classmate, 25th-year returning senior Shorty Meeks (Marlon), who has made millions in the years since as a live streamer. Shawn's Ray Wilkins, meanwhile, shows back up in his old flame Brenda's life during a breathtakingly lurid *Sinners* send-up that takes the form of a confessional sermon in a Southern church.

"I thought it was important that we include pop culture. That we include the new generation. That we respect these young guys that are coming up, what their sense of humor and sensibilities are, their world, live streaming. And Shorty has always been the pulse of pop culture, so he was the perfect character to showcase this generation," Marlon says, proceeding to lay out his thinking. "If you look at *Scream*, you have [Jasmin Savoy Brown] and [Mason Gooding]. Who would those kids be attached to? Brenda's their mother. But what kind of mom is she? She's the mom that wants to still be cool. She's having these parties. It was perfect, because who is that? *Ma*."

Marlon says their goal was "to make a movie for the fans, the original fans of *Scary Movie*. They were teenagers back then, now they're mothers and fathers, and they have teenagers. And I want them to bring their kids and discover the franchise."

Shawn succinctly describes the film as "a conversation piece about the state of the world."

Marlon Wayans as Shorty Meeks in 'Scary Movie'.

Quantrell Colbert/Paramount

Viewed through *Scary Movie*'s satiric prism, the world is not in a great state. Between returning star Cheri Oteri's Gail Hailstorm (a riff on Courteney Cox's *Scream *broadcaster Gale Weathers) sounding off Jeanine Pirro style on the Fake News channel; Dave Sheridan's Doofy Gilmore (the Wayans' take on *Scream*’s Dewey Riley, played by David Arquette) walling himself off from the world with a mountain of COVID-hoarded canned meat; and Brenda handing her brother Shorty's weed gummies out like Halloween candies, causing the neighborhood kids to take off running *Weapons* style, things are off-kilter as ever.

But a quarter-century of untapped horror history makes *Scary Movie *a genre lover's dream.

The sheer diversity of potential targets made for "an exciting opportunity to give the movie flavor," Tiddes says. "There are a rainbow of horror movies here. It was challenging. Like, how do you make *Get Out* and *Terrifier* and *Scream* and all these different movies feel like they belong in one universe?"

Well, the director laughs, you don't — at least not without sacrifice.

"Look, the first cut was three hours long. I had to cut a whole movie out of the movie," he says.

Fortunately, the Wayans have a protocol for that: "Things fall away, but they don't go away,” Tiddes explains. “We end up seeing it down the road in different iterations or different movies. Those jokes live on. They just weren't necessarily the right jokes to tell in this moment."

Anna Faris photographed exclusively for EW.

One of the strategies Tiddes and the Wayans employed to launch *Scary Movie *directly* *into the tumult of the 2020s was scouting out fresh blood. The sixth *Scary Movie *rounds up a murderer's row of comics, actors, and musicians of the moment for cameos and surprise appearances that, well, are better left as surprises.

Several major additions to the cast are public knowledge, however, and the Wayans are eager to share the method behind their madness. There's Kenan Thompson's casting in a parody of the jukebox biopic *Michael*, in which the *Saturday Night Live *vet plays an inept Jermaine Jackson. It may not be a horror parody, but the fact that a fully realized play on a film released on April 24 made it in time for *Scary Movie*'s June 5 release is downright spooky.

And then there's Heidi Gardner sending up Maika Monroe's part in the twisty 2024 mystery *Longlegs *— a parody dubbed "Shorthand," after Chris “Strong Hand” Elliott, who reprises his unforgettably cringe-worthy *Scary Movie 2 *role in Nicolas Cage drag.

According to Marlon, both Thompson and Gardner were "first choice" casting for the roles, not in spite of but because they come from the world of *SNL*, which some may think they consider a rival to their family’s breakout sketch show *In Living Color*. But not so.

"We wanted to cross universes," Marlon explains. "We were like, 'Why have two different institutional forces when we could pull from each other?'"

Shawn Wayans photographed exclusively for EW.

With a bottomless trove of *SNL *stars suddenly opened to them, why tap Thompson and Gardner specifically?

"Kenan was no question, and it was great to work with him," Shawn says.

Marlon adds that there's "something lovable about Kenan. He has a silly little look. He always looks like he's up to something. It's like he's in his own head, and he makes himself laugh first."

As for Gardner, "We just thought Heidi was hilarious... we were thinking about that character — it's always about the character. And that character being psychic, but playing it numb, but still being hilarious" seemed a perfect fit for the recent* SNL *graduate, Marlon reflects. And in the end, "it was like they've been family the whole time.”

The new core four earned their flowers from the OGs, too. Faris recalls how good it felt to be "hanging back with Regina" on set and watching the young cast at work.

"Those kids were so game. They were all so talented. I was in awe of them," she says, especially of Keegan, whose breathy, spacey, and sunny vocal affect for Sara instantly registers as an inheritance from her mom, Cindy. "They would come with their own jokes, and were just so courageous and so supportive of one another. It made me think, in my sentimental way right now, that I know their careers will be so bright."

The Wayans have for months been promising (or warning, depending on your temperament) that their "edgy as f---" new *Scary Movie *is designed to offend.

"We're gonna do what we always do. We're gonna make fun of everybody because we're equal opportunity offenders," Marlon told EW back in March.

But Hall doesn't think it's even possible to really take offense to a Wayans joke, given their humor's deep grounding in character.

Marlon Wayans, Regina Hall, Sydney Park, Benny Zielke, Cameron Scott Roberts, Olivia Rose Keegan, and Dave Sheridan in 'Scary Movie'.

Quantrell Colbert/Paramount

"There was nothing I thought I couldn't or shouldn't say," Hall asserts. "I wasn't offended by anything that they're making fun of, probably because it's *everything*, and yet they're *doing* the everything, right? So they're inside of the experience and not outside of it."

She offers an example from the film: "With Brenda, she was proud to say she swam back and forth [to Epstein Island]. That was cool to her. But that works, because we know they're not right. I think [the Wayans] create that in the world they make — they take the absurdity and turn it on its head."

Faris concurs. Time spent on a Wayans set made her comfortable enough to fan the flames of controversy herself.

"It gives us freedom. I pitched Cindy being MAGA on my very first call with Marlon. I was like, 'Cindy should have gone full QAnon,’" she reveals, before a peal of laughter.

After five films, Cindy and Brenda are the big-screen characters Faris and Hall have played the most. They know these women, warts and all. And in the Wayans' hands, "You have liberty, because are you making fun of MAGA? Or are you making fun of Cindy? Does it let you off the hook? Because Cindy has good intentions, you know? But she's fallible."

Marlon Wayans photographed exclusively for EW.

Where does *Scary Movie *go from here? The sixth installment's utterly unpredictable ending ("genius," Hall calls it; "Did that really just happen?" Tiddes asks) provides a definitive answer to that question.

Speaking to EW months into an intense post-production process on a wildly truncated release timeline, however, Marlon is laser-focused on the short term. "I don't know how we're doing it. It's just that God got us. We're doing it with God's speed. I haven't slept in, I can't tell you how long, but as soon as we come out, what am I gonna do? I'm f---ing sleeping," he jokes. "F--- everybody. Leave me alone."

Anna Faris as Cindy Campbell in 'Scary Movie'.

Quantrell Colbert/Paramount

Faris, meanwhile, casts her gaze further out.

"I don't think it dies. I don't know, at least not for me. I said this when Marlon called, and this is maybe arrogant for me to say, but the town always underestimated and never really understood *Scary Movie*," she says. "There's something electric about what the Wayans Brothers have. There is something that's very human in them, and they bring out something that makes people root for them."

The actress speaks for everyone involved when she humbly states, "I'm just really happy to be part of this journey. I'm just honored to go along for the ride."

*Directed by Alison Wild + Kristen Harding*

*Photography by Isaac Anthony*

*Motion - DP: Michael Smiy; Gaffer: Marcus R. Ray; Key Grip: Marc Eckhardt; ACs: Cody Schrock, Niko Feldman, Andrew DeNatale; 2nd AC: Brandon Babbit; DIT: Michael Ashley*

*Production Design - Production Designer: Lana Boy Ferron; Art  Director: Austin Yeap Set Decorator: Nina Attal; Props Master: Hunter Grace Haynes; Set Dresser: Alec Hawkins; Fabricators: James Castro, Cory Mack; Art Assist/Fabricator: John Clark; Lead Art Assist: Toasty Morgan; Årt Assist: Gawaine Ormsby, Bien Mutayong*

*Photo - Assistants: Grady Corbitt, Andrew Beardsworth, Grady Corbitt, Michael Gulcicek*

*Production - Producer: Austin Sepulveda; Production Manager: Maxwell Gately; Production Coordinator: Brandon Miller; 1st AD: Marcus Sigliano; 2nd AD: Joy Grant*

*Post-Production - Color Correction: Nate Seymour/TRAFIK; VFX: Derek Viramontes; Design: Alex Sandoval; Score: Morning Moon Productions *

*Marlon Wayans - Stylist: Jason Rembert; Styling Assistants: Blake Turner, Ean Rutledge, Jarrett Meilleur; Grooming: Tasha Brown/Wall Group; Barber: Sincere GIlles; Hair Stylist: Linda Villalobos *

*Anna Faris - Styling: Alexandra Mandelkorn/Wall Group;  Hair: Christopher Naselli/Wall Group; Makeup: Vincent Oquendo/Wall Group*

*Regina Hall - Hair: Oscar James; Makeup: Jamal Scott/Art Partner*

*Shawn Wayans - Styling: Elizabeth Meredith; Hair Stylist: Linda Villalobos*****

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