BRINGING SCARY BACK

MARLON WAYANS IS RECLAIMING THE SCARY MOVIE FRANCHISE THAT HE CREATED FOR A MODERN AUDIENCE - BUT WILL THEY ACCEPT IT?

- WORDS: HANNA FLINT

MY FATHER, ON HIS LAST DAY IN hospital, made me promise him that we'll do this movie,” says Marlon Wayans, actor, writer, producer and co-creator of the Scary Movie franchise. That deathbed conversation with Howell Wayans took place in March 2023, 22 years after the release of Scary Movie 2, the last film in the franchise in which Wayans and his brothers, Keenan Ivory and Shawn, were involved, and 17 years after the release of Little Man, the final movie the siblings worked on as a team. “I was like, I don’t know if you know this Pop, but your sons are crazy, how do you expect us to do that?”

But Wayans held his father’s hand, looked into his eyes, kissed him on his forehead and made a vow. “My brothers and I have been away from doing movies together for a long time, but I kept my promise,” Wayans says. “I made it happen in honour of my dad - and because the world needs a big-ass laugh.”

WORLD VIEW

In a cinematic era defined by remakes, reboots and legacy sequels, it seemed inevitable that Scary Movie was due for a comeback, especially with a studio that had already garnered success by reviving another cult parody franchise. Paramount's The Naked Gun earned over double its budget at the global box office, proving a renewed appetite for the silly slapstick humour that previously defined a subsection of comedy.

Wayans aimed to tap back into that nostalgia to entertain both old fans and new audiences. “I just want everybody to go to the theatre and laugh like we did,” he says. “I think this generation needs it. I think their parents need it; to laugh again with our mom, our dad, our teenage kids, and have a good time.”

Scary Movie pushed the comedic boat further than its parody forebearers. Mashing up the plots of teen slashers Scream and