More than two decades after being pushed out of the franchise they built from scratch, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, and Keenen Ivory Wayans have returned to “Scary Movie” in triumphant fashion, and Hollywood is taking notice. The sixth installment in the beloved horror spoof series debuted to $55 million domestically and $50.5 million internationally over its opening weekend, crossing $100 million worldwide in just its first few days in theaters. It is the biggest opening in “Scary Movie” history by a wide margin, and, according to analysts, the largest debut for a traditional parody comedy film in over a decade.
The achievement is especially striking when viewed against the franchise’s full financial arc, one that rises, falls, and now appears to be rising again, all in step with the Wayans family’s involvement.
When Keenen Ivory Wayans directed the original “Scary Movie” in 2000, with brothers Marlon and Shawn writing the script and starring alongside Regina Hall and a then-unknown Anna Faris, no one could have predicted what they had on their hands. Made for just $19 million, the film went on to gross $278 million worldwide, becoming one of the most profitable horror comedies ever produced and earning an earnings-to-budget ratio of roughly 14.6x. It remains the single highest-grossing entry in the franchise’s history.
The 2001 follow-up, “Scary Movie 2,” kept the Wayans brothers at the helm but ballooned in budget to $45 million, more than double the original. The film still turned a profit, grossing $141.2 million globally, but the diminishing ratio sowed seeds of conflict between the family and producers Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein, who controlled the franchise through their studio Miramax. When the Wayans sought increased compensation heading into a potential third installment, the Weinsteins reportedly countered with their original rate. The family walked.
It was stripped from us,” Marlon Wayans, 53, said in a recent interview with Variety, not mincing words about the circumstances that led to their departure.
Without the Wayans brothers, the franchise continued, and continued making money. Director David Zucker, one of the creative minds behind “Airplane!”and “The Naked Gun,” stepped in for “Scary Movie 3” (2003) and “Scary Movie 4” (2006). Together, the two films opened to $48.1 million and $40.2 million respectively and combined for roughly $200 million domestic and nearly $400 million worldwide. Charlie Sheen stepped into a lead role, and the films spoofed everything from “The Ring” to “War of the Worlds.”
But by the time “Scary Movie 5″ arrived in 2013, directed by Malcolm D. Lee and made conspicuously without Anna Faris or Regina Hall, the formula had worn thin. The film opened to just $14.1 million domestically and limped to a $78.4 million worldwide gross on a $20 million budget. It earned a 4% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, placing it in the company of some of the most critically reviled wide-release films ever made. The franchise went quiet.
“It’s also a huge bounce-back after the last [installment] in 2013 crashed when Anna Faris and Regina Hall were excluded,” box office analyst David A. Gross, who publishes the newsletter FranchiseRe, said of this weekend’s result.
Marlon announced in 2024 that he and his brothers were returning, and the reception has validated every bit of the anticipation. The new “Scary Movie,” directed by Michael Tiddes and produced in association with Miramax and Paramount, reunites all four original stars, Faris, Hall, and both Wayans brothers, for the first time since “Scary Movie 2.” Keenen Ivory Wayans, 67, returns as a creative force behind the project.
The result at the domestic box office topped the previous franchise record of $49.7 million set by “Scary Movie 4” in 2006. Internationally, the $50.5 million overseas haul from 53 markets was 75 percent larger than any prior international opening in the series. Combined, the $105.5 million global debut has officially pushed the “Scary Movie” franchise past the $1 billion mark in total worldwide earnings, a milestone the series had been tantalizingly close to, needing roughly $103 million from its sixth entry to cross it.
“This is an outstanding opening for a comedy sequel this far into its series,” Gross noted.
Notably, the film skewed dramatically young: 62 percent of “Scary Movie” ticket buyers over the weekend were under the age of 30, per The Hollywood Reporter, a sign that the franchise has successfully introduced itself to an entirely new generation, not just nostalgic audiences who lined up for it in 2000.
The new “Scary Movie” doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Its release lands during what is shaping up to be one of the most commercially successful horror seasons in recent memory. “Backrooms,” directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, grossed an additional $25.9 million this weekend and has now become A24’s highest-grossing release ever, surpassing Timothée Chalamet’s “Marty Supreme” from last December. Meanwhile, “Obsession,” directed by Curry Barker, pulled in $25.6 million in its fourth weekend, reportedly the best fourth-weekend performance for a horror film in theaters ever, besting “The Blair Witch Project” from 1999, and crossed $200 million globally.
By contrast, Amazon MGM’s “Masters of the Universe” starring Nicholas Galitzine, which opened the same weekend as “Scary Movie” and cost nearly $200 million to produce, debuted to a soft $29.3 million domestic and $54.3 million worldwide. The horror genre, at the moment, simply has no equal at the multiplex.
Coming this Friday, Steven Spielberg’s science fiction-thriller “Disclosure Day” and the RuPaul Charles-produced comedy “Stop! That! Train!” will join the summer’s already crowded marketplace. But for now, the Wayans brothers have reclaimed something, and the box office is making clear that audiences are glad they did.
