Scary Movie

Scary Movie is a horror parody series of six films. They are Scary Movie (2000), Scary Movie 2 (2001), Scary Movie 3 (2003), Scary Movie 4 (2006), Scary Movie 5 (2013) and Scary Movie (2026), which is also sold as Scary Movie 6. The characters are credited as created by Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. The killer in the first and sixth films wears the Ghost Face mask and robe from Scream.

The name came from Scream. Scary Movie was Kevin Williamson's working title for Scream, which Dimension Films released in 1996. Dimension was the genre label Bob Weinstein started at Miramax in 1992, and Disney had owned Miramax since June 30, 1993. So the same label released both Scream and its best known parody.

The first film started as two scripts. Shawn Wayans came up with the idea of spoofing the 1990s teen slashers. He, Marlon Wayans, Buddy Johnson and Phil Beauman wrote a script with the reported working title Last Summer I Screamed Because Halloween Fell on Friday the 13th. Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, who had written Spy Hard, had their own spoof script. Dimension bought both and gave the Friedberg and Seltzer script to the Wayans. The Writers Guild credited all six writers. The Wayans said none of the Friedberg and Seltzer material was used.

Keenen Ivory Wayans directed. Anna Faris, a University of Washington graduate with no agent, got her first film role as Cindy Campbell. Regina Hall played Brenda Meeks, Marlon Wayans played her brother Shorty and Shawn Wayans played Ray Wilkins. Dave Sheridan played Doofy and voiced the killer. It was shot mostly in British Columbia from August 16 to October 18, 1999.

Scary Movie opened July 7, 2000, with $42.3 million on 2,912 screens. That broke the record Air Force One held for an R-rated opening. It made $157 million in the United States and Canada, passing Good Will Hunting as Miramax's biggest earner there, and about $278 million worldwide on a $19 million budget. Its tagline was No Mercy. No Shame. No Sequel.

The sequel came a year later. Scary Movie 2 opened July 4, 2001, with the tagline We Lied. It moved from slashers to haunted house movies, and the budget went up to $45 million. Marlon Brando shot one day as the priest in the Exorcist opening and left because of his health. James Woods replaced him. The film made $141 million worldwide and has a 13 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Then the Wayans family left. Marlon Wayans has said Miramax's first offer for a third film only matched their pay on the first one, and later offers still fell short. They made White Chicks instead, which came out June 23, 2004. Dimension announced Scary Movie 3 without them in November 2002. Kevin Smith signed on as executive producer and co-writer in December 2002 and then left. Friedberg and Seltzer wrote a draft called Scary Movie 3: Episode I, Lord of the Brooms, aimed at Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. David Zucker of Airplane! and The Naked Gun came on to direct and used a new script by Craig Mazin and Pat Proft.

Zucker changed the series. Scary Movie 3 was rated PG-13 and brought in Leslie Nielsen as President Baxter Harris. Anna Faris came back because she was on a three-picture contract, even though Keenen Ivory Wayans asked her not to. Regina Hall came back too. Anthony Anderson, Kevin Hart, Simon Rex and Charlie Sheen joined. It opened October 24, 2003, to $48.1 million, the biggest October opening at the time. The unrated DVD was sold as Scary Movie 3.5.

The Weinsteins left Disney's Miramax at the end of September 2005 and took the Dimension name to The Weinstein Company. Films released before that stayed with Miramax. Scary Movie 4 came out under the new company. Zucker directed again from a script by Mazin, Proft and Jim Abrahams. It spoofed War of the Worlds, The Grudge, Saw, The Village and Brokeback Mountain. It opened April 14, 2006, to $40.2 million, the best Easter weekend opening at the time, and made about $178 million worldwide.

The Weinstein Company announced a fifth film on Facebook on January 31, 2011. Writers Stephen Leff, John Aboud and Michael Colton were reported hired in August 2011. The film that came out was different. Zucker and Proft wrote it, Malcolm D. Lee directed and Ashley Tisdale and Simon Rex led it. Faris was not asked back, and Hall would not return without her. Scary Movie 5 opened April 12, 2013, without screenings for critics. It had the lowest opening, the lowest total and the worst reviews in the series. Lee later told people not to bother seeing it.

The series then sat for thirteen years. The Weinstein Company went bankrupt in 2018, and Dimension shut down on July 16, 2018. ViacomCBS, now Paramount, bought 49 percent of Miramax in April 2020. Marlon Wayans made his own spoofs with director Michael Tiddes, starting with A Haunted House in January 2013. He has said The Weinstein Company offered to buy that film, and he believed they meant to shelve it and use its ideas for Scary Movie 5.

The way back started at CinemaCon in April 2024. Miramax, now run by Jonathan Glickman, said it would pay for a new Scary Movie with Neal H. Moritz attached and Paramount distributing. Deadline noted that the first five films had grossed more than $896 million. In October 2024 Marlon Wayans posted on Instagram that the brothers were back after nearly 20 years. Marlon, Shawn and Keenen Ivory Wayans would write and produce with Rick Alvarez. In January 2025 Paramount dated the film for June 12, 2026.

Marlon has given two reasons for coming back. The Weinsteins were gone, and his father Howell Wayans asked his sons from his deathbed in 2023 to work together again. Michael Tiddes directed. Faris and Hall were confirmed in August 2025. The film was shot at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta from October 1 to November 24, 2025. Three more days of shooting in April 2026 added jokes about Sinners, Weapons and Michael.

Scary Movie (2026) opened June 5, 2026, rated R, a week earlier than first planned. It opened to $54.3 million in the United States and Canada, the best opening in the series and the best ever for a Paramount comedy. It made $105.5 million worldwide that weekend. By September 2026 it had grossed about $231 million worldwide on a $30 million budget, second in the series behind the original. Critics gave it 23 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. In the story Cindy, Brenda, Shorty and Ray reunite, and the ending has Shorty and Ray kill Anthony Anderson and Shaquille O'Neal for making Scary Movie 3 and 4 without them.

The run was front loaded. The film took $7.7 million from Thursday previews, then fell 74 percent in its second weekend to $14.2 million. That is the steepest second weekend drop in the series. The original dropped 38 percent in 2000 and Scary Movie 5 about 57 percent in 2013. By late July it was in 141 theaters with about $108 million at home, just under twice its opening. Overseas did better. Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany and Brazil each passed $11 million, and overseas money came to about 53 percent of the total.

Where it stands in September 2026: the 2026 film went to digital on July 21 with an extended cut, to Paramount+ on September 3, and to 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on September 22. The 2000 original gets a new 4K release the same day. At the premiere Marlon Wayans told Variety to wait for Scary Movie 7 and named Backrooms and Obsession as targets. Paramount and Miramax have not announced a seventh film. The six films have grossed between $1.06 billion and $1.13 billion worldwide, depending on the tracker.

Lore and rules

The series has no strict continuity. Characters die and come back with no explanation. Brenda, Ray and Shorty all die in the first film and Cindy is hit by a car, and all four are in college in the second. Brenda dies again in the third and is back in the fourth.

There are three rough branches. Scary Movie and Scary Movie 2 follow Cindy and her friends from high school to college. Scary Movie 3 and 4 keep Cindy and Brenda and add the Logan family: Cindy marries George, raises her nephew Cody and loses George by the fourth film. Scary Movie 5 stands alone, with Charlie Sheen, Simon Rex, Molly Shannon and Darrell Hammond back as new characters.

The 2026 film is set 26 years after the first and acts as a sequel to the first two. It brings back Doofy, Gail, Greg and Bobby, gives Cindy two daughters and makes Brenda and Ray a married couple with twins. Shorty and Ray kill Anthony Anderson and Shaquille O'Neal and hold a grudge against Cindy and Brenda for making Scary Movie 3 and 4 without them.

The 2026 film calls its premise a rebooquel. It has a film within the film called Horror Movie, the way Scream has Stab. The killers' plan is to push out the legacy characters and hand the series to new ones, and the ending rejects that.

Each film takes its structure from recent hits. Scary Movie follows Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Scary Movie 2 follows The Haunting. Scary Movie 3 follows The Ring and Signs. Scary Movie 4 follows War of the Worlds and The Grudge. Scary Movie 5 follows Paranormal Activity and Mama. The 2026 film goes back to Scream.

The first three films end with someone hit by a car: Cindy in the first, Hanson in the second and Cody in the third. The fourth ends on the Oprah set, the fifth with Caesar's warning about the apes, and 2026 with a house fire.

The taglines run as their own joke. The first was No Mercy. No Shame. No Sequel. The second answered We Lied. Scary Movie 3 used Great trilogies come in threes, which won the IMP Awards prize for best funny tagline.

The ratings shifted with the directors. The Keenen Ivory Wayans films were rated R. The Zucker era films were PG-13, with unrated cuts on DVD. The 2026 film went back to an R and added an extended cut.

Names borrow from the targets. Drew Decker is Casey Becker, Doofy is Dewey, Gail Hailstorm is Gale Weathers and Woodsville is Woodsboro. Buffy is named for Sarah Michelle Gellar's best known role. The family in the Exorcist opening of Scary Movie 2 is named Voorhees. Brenda's last name comes from Martha Meeks in Scream 3.

Some actors come back as different people. Carmen Electra is Drew Decker, then Holly, then a bartender. Chris Elliott is Hanson, then Ezekiel, then Shorthand. Charlie Sheen is Tom Logan and then Charlie Sanders. Simon Rex is George Logan and then Dan Sanders. Molly Shannon is Marilyn and then Heather Darcy. Darrell Hammond is Father Muldoon and then Dr. Hall.

Timeline

• 1992: Bob Weinstein starts Dimension Films as the genre label of Miramax.
• June 30, 1993: Disney buys Miramax, and Dimension comes with it.
• December 20, 1996: Dimension releases Scream. Its working title had been Scary Movie.
• April 17 to May 18, 1999: The rival spoof Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th is shot in Los Angeles.
• August 16, 1999: Principal photography on Scary Movie begins in British Columbia.
• October 18, 1999: Scary Movie wraps filming.
• December 20, 1999: Budweiser's Whassup? ad first airs during Monday Night Football. Scary Movie later adds a spoof of it.
• February 2000: Dimension releases Scream 3, five months before the parody.
• July 4, 2000: The album Scary Movie: Music That Inspired The Soundtrack? comes out on TVT Soundtrax.
• July 7, 2000: Scary Movie opens on 2,912 screens with $42.3 million, a record for an R-rated film. Producer Bo Zenga sues Brillstein-Grey the same day.
• August 2000: Scary Movie wins Choice Summer Movie at the Teen Choice Awards.
• October 17, 2000: Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th premieres on USA Network during Shriek Week.
• December 12, 2000: Scary Movie comes out on VHS and DVD from Buena Vista under the Dimension Home Video banner.
• June 2001: James Van Der Beek wins Best Cameo at the MTV Movie Awards for playing Dawson Leery in Scary Movie.
• July 4, 2001: Scary Movie 2 opens in 3,220 theaters, second behind Cats & Dogs, with $20.5 million for the weekend.
• December 18, 2001: Scary Movie 2 comes out on VHS and DVD.
• November 2002: Dimension announces Scary Movie 3 without the Wayans family.
• December 2002: Kevin Smith signs on to Scary Movie 3 as executive producer and co-writer, then leaves.
• March 12, 2003: Filming on Scary Movie 3 begins in Vancouver.
• July 16, 2003: Scary Movie 3 wraps filming.
• August 19, 2003: Empire reports that Michael Jackson plans to sue over a Jackson lookalike gag in the Scary Movie 3 teaser trailer.
• October 20, 2003: Scary Movie 3 premieres at the AMC Avco in Westwood, Los Angeles.
• October 24, 2003: Scary Movie 3 opens in 3,505 theaters with $48.1 million, the biggest October opening at the time.
• May 11, 2004: Scary Movie 3 comes out on VHS and DVD.
• June 2004: Simon Cowell wins Best Cameo at the MTV Movie Awards for Scary Movie 3.
• June 23, 2004: White Chicks, the film the Wayans made instead of Scary Movie 3, is released.
• September 20, 2005: The unrated Scary Movie 3.5 DVD comes out, per DVD Talk. Wikipedia dates it September 30.
• October 1, 2005: The Weinsteins' split from Miramax takes effect, and the Dimension label moves to The Weinstein Company.
• April 10, 2006: Scary Movie 4 premieres at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square in New York.
• April 14, 2006: Scary Movie 4 opens with $40.2 million, the best Easter weekend opening at the time.
• August 15, 2006: Scary Movie 4 comes out on DVD in theatrical and unrated editions.
• 2007: Carmen Electra wins the Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress for Scary Movie 4 and Date Movie.
• 2007: The first Scary Movie comes out on Blu-ray.
• December 2010: Disney sells Miramax to Filmyard Holdings.
• January 31, 2011: The Weinstein Company announces Scary Movie 5 on Facebook.
• August 2011: Stephen Leff, John Aboud and Michael Colton are reported as the writers of Scary Movie 5.
• September 20, 2011: Lionsgate releases Scary Movie 2 and the unrated Scary Movie 3 on Blu-ray under license from Filmyard.
• December 6, 2011: Lionsgate releases a Blu-ray triple feature of the first three films.
• 2012: Anna Faris says she will not be in Scary Movie 5.
• June 2012: Ashley Tisdale is confirmed for Scary Movie 5.
• August 2012: Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen join Scary Movie 5. Terry Crews joins on August 14.
• September 2012: Filming on Scary Movie 5 begins, mostly in and around Atlanta.
• September 20, 2012: The first image from Scary Movie 5, of Lohan and Sheen, is released.
• January 11, 2013: A Haunted House, starring Marlon Wayans and directed by Michael Tiddes, opens.
• January to February 2013: Additional Scary Movie 5 filming takes place at Sunset Gower Studios in Los Angeles, handled by David Zucker.
• April 11, 2013: Scary Movie 5 premieres at the ArcLight Cinerama Dome in Hollywood.
• April 12, 2013: Scary Movie 5 opens second behind 42 with $14.2 million, the lowest opening in the series. It was not screened for critics.
• August 20, 2013: Scary Movie 5 comes out on Blu-ray and DVD in theatrical and unrated versions.
• 2014: Scary Movie 5 gets three Razzie nominations and wins none.
• March 2016: beIN Media Group buys Miramax from Filmyard Holdings.
• 2018: The Weinstein Company files for bankruptcy. Lantern Entertainment buys most of its assets.
• July 16, 2018: Dimension Films shuts down.
• March 13, 2019: Spyglass Media Group relaunches with the Lantern library.
• 2020: For the 20th anniversary, Marlon Wayans tells IndieWire the Weinsteins were very much an evil regime.
• April 2020: ViacomCBS buys 49 percent of Miramax, which brings the first three Scary Movie films under Paramount.
• February 1, 2021: Paramount reissues the three-film Scary Movie Blu-ray and adds a triple feature DVD.
• July 15, 2021: Lionsgate buys about 200 Weinstein Company films from Spyglass and takes an 18.9 percent stake in Spyglass.
• July 27, 2021: Paramount reissues Scary Movie 2 on DVD and Blu-ray.
• 2023: Howell Wayans, father of Keenen, Marlon and Shawn, dies after asking his sons to work together again.
• April 2024: Paramount and Miramax announce a new Scary Movie at CinemaCon, with Neal H. Moritz attached and Miramax paying for it. Melissa Barrera says it would be so fun to be in it.
• October 2024: Marlon Wayans announces on Instagram that he, Shawn and Keenen Ivory Wayans are back after nearly 20 years, writing and producing with Rick Alvarez.
• November 2024: Regina Hall says she is thrilled at the possibility that the band could get back together.
• January 2025: Paramount sets the new Scary Movie for June 12, 2026.
• February 2025: Marlon Wayans calls Anna Faris to tell her the brothers have the franchise back.
• August 2025: Deadline confirms Anna Faris and Regina Hall as Cindy and Brenda. Their statement says the Wayans are three men they would die for, and in Brenda's case die again.
• September 2025: Marlon Wayans confirms he is back as Shorty and names Get Out, Nope, Longlegs, Heretic and Sinners as possible targets.
• October 1, 2025: Filming begins at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta.
• November 2025: Deadline announces Shawn Wayans and returning actors Jon Abrahams, Lochlyn Munro, Cheri Oteri, Dave Sheridan and Chris Elliott, plus newcomers including Damon Wayans Jr., Kim Wayans and Heidi Gardner.
• November 24, 2025: Principal photography wraps.
• February 11, 2026: James Van Der Beek dies of colorectal cancer at 48.
• February 2026: Kane Hodder and Dave Sheridan tell fans at Spooky Empire that Felissa Rose is in the film. Anthony Anderson confirms he is in it.
• February 14, 2026: NECA reveals its Ultimate Ghost Face Returns figure, with a Scary Movie Whassup face plate, at New York Toy Fair.
• February 23, 2026: Dread Central reports the film spoofs Sinners, Weapons and A Quiet Place.
• February 27, 2026: The first trailer plays in theaters ahead of Scream 7.
• March 2, 2026: The trailer goes online through Entertainment Weekly. Marlon Wayans calls the film a rebooquel. The official title is Scary Movie, with no number.
• March 3, 2026: Marlon Wayans announces on Instagram that the release moves up from June 12 to June 5, 2026.
• March 5, 2026: Film Music Reporter reports that Haim Mazar will score the film.
• March 10, 2026: The film is nominated for Next Big Thing at the Queerties Awards.
• April 16, 2026: Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans and Anna Faris show new footage at Paramount's CinemaCon presentation in Las Vegas.
• April 2026: Three days of extra shooting add parodies of Sinners, Weapons and Michael.
• May 21, 2026: Paramount, Miramax and the film's Instagram account reveal a bong shaped popcorn bucket. PAX announces a limited Scary Movie vaporizer.
• May 29, 2026: The Rakyat Post reports that Malaysia's Film Censorship Board did not pass the film for screening.
• June 3, 2026: The film premieres at the Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles and opens in France, Belgium, Portugal and Switzerland.
• June 4, 2026: Thursday previews in North America bring in $7.7 million.
• June 5, 2026: Scary Movie opens in 3,490 theaters in the United States and Canada. Lakeshore Records releases the score album.
• June 5 to 7, 2026: Opening weekend of $54.3 million domestic and $105.5 million worldwide, the best in the series. It beats Masters of the Universe.
• June 12 to 14, 2026: Second weekend: $14.2 million in third place, down 74 percent, the worst second weekend drop in the series.
• June 2026: Deadline reports the series has crossed $1 billion worldwide, with the new film at $208.5 million.
• June 26, 2026: The film opens in Japan as 最終絶叫計画 令和！, the first film in the series to play theaters there in 22 years.
• July 2, 2026: The film opens in South Korea.
• July 21, 2026: An extended cut with 13 minutes of new footage and an alternate ending goes on sale digitally.
• July 24 to 26, 2026: The film plays its last tracked domestic weekend in 141 theaters, with about $108.2 million so far.
• August 19, 2026: Paramount+ announces the September 3 streaming date.
• September 3, 2026: The 2026 film starts streaming on Paramount+.
• September 5, 2026: CBR reports, citing FlixPatrol, that Scary Movie is the No. 2 movie on Paramount+ in the United States.
• September 22, 2026: The 2026 film comes out on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD. Paramount also releases the 2000 original on 4K from a new master.

The killers

Characters

Places

Box office

Domestic, the six films add up to $569,336,154 using Box Office Mojo's figures, or $569,301,442 using The Numbers. Worldwide, Wikipedia's series page totals $1,128,705,718 and Box Office Mojo's figures add up to about $1.128 billion, while The Numbers adds up to $1,062,191,464. Most of the gap is Scary Movie 3's overseas gross, which Box Office Mojo puts at $110.7 million and The Numbers at about $45 million. Combined budgets come to $202 million by Wikipedia's figures or $199 million by The Numbers. Ranked by worldwide gross: Scary Movie (2000), Scary Movie (2026), Scary Movie 3, Scary Movie 4, Scary Movie 2, Scary Movie 5. Best opening: the 2026 film at $54.3 million. Lowest: Scary Movie 5 at $14.2 million. Before the 2026 film, Deadline put the first five films at more than $896 million worldwide. Deadline reported in June 2026 that the series had passed $1 billion.

Rights and business

Scary Movie began at Dimension Films, the genre label Bob Weinstein started at Miramax in 1992. Disney had owned Miramax since June 30, 1993, so the first three films were Disney-owned Dimension releases, put out on home video by Buena Vista Home Entertainment. The first two films were produced with Wayans Bros. Entertainment, Gold/Miller Productions and Brad Grey Pictures, and Brad Grey Pictures stayed on through Scary Movie 5.

The Wayans family's split with the studio shaped the whole series. Marlon Wayans says the family asked for a raise after the first two films, the offers fell short, and they made White Chicks at Sony instead. He says they learned from an announcement that Scary Movie 3 was going ahead without them, and that the Weinsteins shorted them on royalties from the first two films. He told Variety in 2026 that they could have sued and probably would have won. David Zucker has said the Wayans do a completely different kind of comedy from his team.

The Weinsteins' split from Miramax took effect October 1, 2005, and the Dimension label went with them to The Weinstein Company. Disney and Miramax kept the films Dimension had already released. Scary Movie 4 and 5 came out under The Weinstein Company. Wikipedia calls Scary Movie 5 the only film in the series with no Miramax involvement.

Disney sold Miramax to Filmyard Holdings in 2010. Filmyard licensed the older films to Lionsgate, which put Scary Movie 2 and 3 on Blu-ray on September 20, 2011, and a triple feature on December 6, 2011. Filmyard also licensed the Miramax library to Netflix, and Scary Movie 3 streamed there until June 1, 2016. beIN Media Group bought Miramax in March 2016. ViacomCBS, now Paramount, bought 49 percent of Miramax in April 2020, which gave Paramount the first three films.

The Weinstein Company went bankrupt in 2018, Lantern Entertainment bought most of its assets, and Dimension shut down on July 16, 2018. Spyglass Media Group relaunched with the Lantern library on March 13, 2019. On July 15, 2021, Lionsgate bought about 200 Weinstein Company films from Spyglass and took an 18.9 percent stake in Spyglass. Wikipedia describes the Dimension library as split, with pre-2005 titles under Paramount through Miramax and later titles with Lionsgate and Spyglass.

Scary Movie 4 went to DVD on August 15, 2006, in theatrical and unrated editions. The Numbers estimates it sold about 1.58 million units for about $22.3 million. Scary Movie 5 came out on Blu-ray and DVD on August 20, 2013.

The 2026 film was released by Paramount under its first-look deal with Miramax. Miramax paid the full $30 million budget. Wayans Bros. Entertainment is the credited studio, and Wikipedia says Ugly Baby Productions, the company of Marlon Wayans and Rick Alvarez, also produced. It is the first film in the series not produced by Dimension. Paramount moved the release up a week after the strong response to the teaser.

Miramax CEO Jonathan Glickman told Variety he saw the deals Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez had gotten at Miramax, and that the Wayans had deserved a similar deal. His first job out of college was as an intern for producer Joe Roth, and the first script he read there was Keenen Ivory Wayans's A Low Down Dirty Shame.

The series has had legal and censorship trouble without a courtroom verdict. Producer Bo Zenga sued Brillstein-Grey on July 7, 2000, the day the first film opened, saying he had been promised an equal partnership. In August 2003 Michael Jackson was reported to be planning a suit over a Jackson lookalike gag in the Scary Movie 3 teaser trailer. In May 2026 Malaysia's Film Censorship Board did not pass the new film, which also bars its sale and possession there.

Marlon Wayans says The Weinstein Company tried to buy his film A Haunted House before Scary Movie 5, and he believed they meant to shelve it. He turned it down. A Haunted House cost $2.5 million and grossed $60.1 million, and A Haunted House 2 followed in 2014.

Paramount distributes both Scary Movie and Scream, which the Associated Press pointed out when the 2026 film's $105.5 million global opening beat Scream 7's $97 million. The 2026 film reached Paramount+ on September 3, 2026, about three months after it opened.

Critics never loved the series, and audiences kept buying tickets anyway. Rotten Tomatoes scores run 52 percent for the first film, 13 for the second, 35 for the third, 34 for the fourth, 4 for the fifth and 23 for the 2026 film. Metacritic runs 48, 29, 49, 40, 11 and 38. CinemaScore grades went B minus, B, B, C plus, C minus and C plus.

The first film drew a split. Variety's Joe Leydon said it would make you laugh until you were ashamed of yourself. Roger Ebert gave it three stars but said it lacked the shock of Airplane! A. O. Scott of The New York Times found the jokes tired, and Peter Howell of the Toronto Star called many of them sexist, racist and homophobic.

Scary Movie set records. It had the biggest R-rated opening at the time and became Miramax's biggest domestic earner. Scary Movie 3 set the October opening record in 2003, and Scary Movie 4 set the Easter opening record in 2006. The 2026 film had the best opening in the series and the best domestic opening ever for a Paramount comedy, ahead of Jackass 3D.

It set off imitators. Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th premiered on USA Network in October 2000. Friedberg and Seltzer went on to Date Movie, Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans and Disaster Movie, which are often ranked among the worst films ever made. Marlon Wayans and Michael Tiddes made A Haunted House, A Haunted House 2 and Fifty Shades of Black.

The series launched careers. It was Anna Faris's first film role, and she went on to Lost in Translation, The House Bunny and Mom. Regina Hall later became the first Black actress to win the New York Film Critics Circle award for best actress, for Support the Girls, and co-hosted the 94th Academy Awards. Craig Mazin went from Scary Movie 3 and 4 to creating Chernobyl and co-creating The Last of Us.

The Zucker films split fans. Roger Ebert called Scary Movie 3 a simpleminded spoof. Scary Movie 5 was the low point. Malcolm D. Lee called it just a bad movie, the Washington Post gave it zero stars and IGN gave it 1 out of 10.

Saw III borrowed the replica Saw bathroom set built for Scary Movie 4, so a set from the parody ended up in the series it mocked.

The series traveled well. It is Todo Mundo em Pânico in Brazil, Um Susto de Filme in Portugal and 最終絶叫計画 in Japan. The 2026 film was the first in the series to play theaters in Japan in 22 years, retitled 最終絶叫計画 令和！. In Brazil it had Paramount's biggest opening ever, and in Colombia and Bolivia it had the biggest opening of any Paramount film. Paramount had jokes rewritten for some countries, such as a serial killer reference swapped for a Brazilian one.

The 2026 revival showed the name still sold. Reviews stayed poor. Owen Gleiberman of Variety wished it had gone after films like Midsommar and the Conjuring series, and David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter said the opening was the best part. But 63 percent of PostTrak viewers said they would definitely recommend it, and its worldwide gross came to more than seven times its budget. Deadline called it the first pure R-rated comedy to pass $100 million domestic since Girls Trip in 2017.

The 2026 numbers told two stories. It opened bigger than any film in the series, then lost 74 percent in its second weekend, the largest drop the series has had. Its domestic total ended just under twice its opening. But it finished second in the series worldwide, and after it reached Paramount+ in September it climbed to No. 2 on the service's US movie chart.

Awards

• 2000 Teen Choice Awards: Choice Summer Movie, Scary Movie. Won.
• 2000 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards: Most Unfunny Comic Relief, 90 percent of the film. Nominated.
• 2000 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards: Worst Supporting Actress, Shannon Elizabeth. Nominated.
• 2001 Taurus World Stunt Awards: Best Work with a Vehicle, Leslie McMichael and Yves Cameron. Nominated.
• 2001 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards: Favorite Actor, Comedy, Marlon Wayans. Nominated.
• 2001 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards: Favorite Actor, Comedy, Shawn Wayans. Nominated.
• 2001 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards: Favorite Supporting Actress, Comedy, Cheri Oteri. Won.
• 2001 MTV Movie Awards: Breakthrough Female Performance, Anna Faris. Nominated.
• 2001 MTV Movie Awards: Best Kiss, Anna Faris and Jon Abrahams. Nominated.
• 2001 MTV Movie Awards: Best Cameo, James Van Der Beek. Won.
• 2001 Bogey Awards (Germany): Bronze Award, Scary Movie 2. Won.
• 2001 Golden Schmoes Awards: Worst Movie of the Year, Scary Movie 2. Nominated.
• 2001 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards: Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy, Scary Movie 2. Nominated.
• 2001 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards: Worst Supporting Actress, Tori Spelling for Scary Movie 2. Won.
• 2001 Teen Choice Awards: Choice Movie of the Summer, Scary Movie 2. Nominated.
• 2001 Teen Choice Awards: Choice Movie Your Parents Didn't Want You to See, Scary Movie 2. Won.
• 2002 ALMA Awards: Excellence in Make-Up, Rebecca DeHerrera for Scary Movie 2. Nominated.
• 2002 Canadian Comedy Awards: Best Female Performance, Kathleen Robertson for Scary Movie 2. Nominated.
• 2003 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards: Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy, Scary Movie 3. Nominated.
• 2003 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards: Worst Screenplay for a Film Grossing More than $100 Million Using Hollywood Math, Craig Mazin and Pat Proft. Nominated.
• 2003 IMP Awards: Best Funny Tagline, Great trilogies come in threes. Won.
• 2004 Kids' Choice Awards: Favorite Movie Actress, Queen Latifah, for Scary Movie 3 and Bringing Down the House. Nominated.
• 2004 MTV Movie Awards: Best Cameo, Simon Cowell for Scary Movie 3. Won.
• 2004 Teen Choice Awards: Choice Movie Your Parents Didn't Want You to See, Scary Movie 3. The Scary Movie 3 article lists it as a win and the series article as a nomination.
• 2006 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards: Chick You Don't Wanna Mess With, Anna Faris. Nominated.
• 2006 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards: Worst Sequel, Scary Movie 4. Nominated.
• 2006 Teen Choice Awards: Choice Comedy, Scary Movie 4. Nominated.
• 27th Golden Raspberry Awards (2007): Worst Supporting Actress, Carmen Electra for Scary Movie 4 and Date Movie. Won.
• 2013 Golden Schmoes Awards: Worst Movie of the Year, Scary Movie 5. Nominated.
• 34th Golden Raspberry Awards (2014): Worst Supporting Actress, Lindsay Lohan. Nominated.
• 34th Golden Raspberry Awards (2014): Worst Screen Combo, Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen. Nominated.
• 34th Golden Raspberry Awards (2014): Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel, Scary Movie 5. Nominated.
• 2026 Queerties Awards: Next Big Thing, Scary Movie (2026). Nominated.

Parodies and references

• Scary Movie (2000) spoofs Scream, Scream 2, Scream 3, I Know What You Did Last Summer, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Halloween, Friday the 13th, The Shining, The Sixth Sense, The Blair Witch Project, The Matrix, The Usual Suspects, American Pie, Psycho, Candyman, Shakespeare in Love, Amistad, Titanic, Kazaam, Dawson's Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Big Momma's House and Budweiser's Whassup? ads.
• Scary Movie 2 (2001) spoofs The Haunting, The Legend of Hell House, The Exorcist, The Amityville Horror, Poltergeist, both versions of House on Haunted Hill, The Changeling, What Lies Beneath, Bloodbath at the House of Death, Hollow Man, Stigmata, Hannibal, Charlie's Angels, Dude, Where's My Car? and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
• Scary Movie 3 (2003) spoofs The Ring, Signs, 8 Mile, The Matrix Reloaded, The Others, Airplane!, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Minority Report, American Idol and Pootie Tang.
• Scary Movie 4 (2006) spoofs Saw, The Grudge, War of the Worlds, The Village, Million Dollar Baby, Brokeback Mountain and Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah's couch.
• Scary Movie 5 (2013) spoofs Paranormal Activity, Mama, Black Swan, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Evil Dead, The Cabin in the Woods, Sinister, Inception, Insidious, The Help, Fifty Shades of Grey and the Madea films, plus Ted in the unrated DVD.
• Scary Movie (2026) spoofs Scream (2022), Scream VI, Get Out, Halloween (2018), The Substance, Terrifier 3, Longlegs, Sinners, Weapons, Smile, M3GAN, Ma, Nosferatu (2024), KPop Demon Hunters, Michael and John Wick. Jason Voorhees, Leatherface, Chucky, Pinhead, the Babadook, the Heart Eyes Killer and Wednesday Addams turn up. Wikipedia also lists Nope and Heretic.
• Fake trailers inside the films: Amistad II in Scary Movie, and Jermaine and Brosferatu in Scary Movie (2026).
• Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th (2000) is the other big horror spoof of that year. Wikipedia notes it was shot in April and May 1999, months before Scary Movie started filming.
• A Haunted House (2013) beat Scary Movie 5 to the Paranormal Activity spoof by three months, and Marlon Wayans says the Weinsteins tried to buy it.
• Scary Movie (2026) points back at the series itself. Dei's death at the hands of angry passengers mirrors Brenda's death in the theater, the killers are punished for Scary Movie 3 and 4, and Carmen Electra's bartender cameo repeats her fart joke from the first film.
• Marlon Wayans plays Tiffany Wilson from White Chicks in Scary Movie (2026). White Chicks is the film the Wayans made instead of Scary Movie 3.
• Teyana Taylor's cameo in the 2026 opening jokes about her real Golden Globe win and her Oscar loss to Amy Madigan. Marlon Wayans told USA Today the Globe in the scene was a prop, and if it was the real one he would have stolen it.
• The 2026 marketing included a Subservient Ghostface website, a Nike parody with shooting coach Chris Lethal Shooter Matthews, a Scary Movie spoof of A24's Backrooms, a Times Square hotbox and a racy Vegemite-inspired poster for Australia.

Fandom

The Scary Movie Wiki on Fandom is the main fan reference. It has pages for the characters of every film, including the 2026 versions of Cindy, Brenda, Ray and Greg.

Variety called the first film's Wazzup phone scene infamous and regularly memed in 2020. It came from a Budweiser ad that had become a pop culture staple near the end of filming, and Keenen Ivory Wayans added it while the film was testing well. In 2026 NECA put a stoned Whassup face plate on its Ultimate Ghost Face Returns figure.

The people being spoofed were mostly good sports. Anna Faris told Deadline that Neve Campbell and Jennifer Love Hewitt were lovely. Dave Sheridan says David Arquette grabbed his hand at a premiere and said, I know who you are. Carmen Electra told Variety the Prince gag in the first film was one of the surprises she remembers most.

Many fans felt the sequels made without the Wayans were not the same, and Marlon Wayans says the franchise suffered once it was taken from them. When the 2026 film opened, 88 percent of its opening weekend audience called themselves fans of the franchise and 90 percent had seen an earlier Scary Movie, per Paramount's numbers in Deadline.

The 2026 audience skewed young and Latino. Paramount's opening weekend breakdown was 37 percent Latino and Hispanic, 36 percent white, 21 percent Black and 6 percent other, with 78 percent under 35. Deadline's Saturday update put Latino and Hispanic moviegoers at 40 percent with a 66 percent definite recommend.

Regina Hall's Brenda is a fan favorite. Kristin Corry of Vice called Brenda the voice of reason who says what viewers are thinking. Carmen Electra's Wikipedia article says the series attained a cult following.

Cast members turn up on the horror convention circuit. Dave Sheridan appeared with Kane Hodder at Spooky Empire in 2026, and Shannon Elizabeth told Variety she has always enjoyed fan conventions like Comic-Con.

Horror spoofs came in a pair in 2000. Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th premiered on October 17, 2000, during USA Network's Shriek Week. Trimark distributed it, John Blanchard directed it on a $5 million budget, and it starred Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Tom Arnold, Coolio and Shirley Jones, with Simon Rex and Danny Strong in the cast. Simon Rex later joined the Scary Movie series. Shriek has a 14 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.

The Whassup mask never went away. Fun World still sells the #8511 Whassup, Smiley and Stoned masks from 2000. In 2026 Spirit Halloween listed a Wassup costume kit and hoodie, and NECA added a Whassup face plate to its Ghost Face figure.

Documentaries and retrospectives

Music

Merchandise lines

Home media collections

News in 2026

• February 2026: Dread Central reports that Felissa Rose appears in a Terrifier 3 mall Santa parody, revealed by Kane Hodder and Dave Sheridan at Spooky Empire. The scene was cut and then put back in a shorter edit. Terrifier producer Michael Leavy also appears.
• February 2026: Anthony Anderson confirms he is in the new film. He jokes that he did not realize a fifth film had been made.
• February 14, 2026: NECA reveals Ultimate Ghost Face Returns at New York Toy Fair, with a Scary Movie Whassup face plate. Preorders open February 27.
• February 23, 2026: Dread Central reports the film will spoof Sinners, Weapons and A Quiet Place, and hears a Sinners parody mask may use blackface imagery, not confirmed for the final cut.
• March 2, 2026: The trailer goes online through Entertainment Weekly. Marlon Wayans calls the film a rebooquel and says the only way to bring back comedy is to cancel the cancel culture. The official title is Scary Movie, with no number.
• March 5, 2026: Film Music Reporter reports Haim Mazar will score the film.
• March 10, 2026: Scary Movie is nominated for Next Big Thing at the 2026 Queerties Awards.
• March 2026: Marlon Wayans says Shannon Elizabeth's absence came down to the number of returning characters, and he would like her in a future film.
• March 2026: Marlon Wayans remembers James Van Der Beek's Dawson Leery cameo. Van Der Beek had died of colorectal cancer at 48 on February 11.
• April 2026: Three days of extra shooting add parodies of Sinners, Weapons and the Michael Jackson biopic Michael, with Kenan Thompson as Jermaine.
• April 16, 2026: Paramount shows new footage at CinemaCon in Las Vegas with Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans and Anna Faris on stage.
• May 2026: Deadline tracking puts the opening at $35 million or more.
• May 21, 2026: Paramount, Miramax and the film's Instagram account reveal the bong shaped popcorn bucket. PAX announces a limited Scary Movie PAX Four vaporizer and the Don't Kill, Just Chill video series.
• May 2026: Variety's Marlon Wayans cover story runs. Miramax CEO Jonathan Glickman says the Wayans deserved the kind of deal Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez got at Miramax.
• June 3, 2026: World premiere at the Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles.
• June 2026: Reviews land. Variety's Owen Gleiberman and THR's David Rooney are negative. The Guardian and Empire each give it two stars out of five.
• June 5, 2026: The film opens in 3,490 theaters in North America and in 53 overseas markets. Haim Mazar's score album comes out on Lakeshore Records. Thursday previews brought in $7.7 million.
• June 7, 2026: A franchise record opening: $55 million domestic by Deadline's Sunday estimate and $105.5 million worldwide, beating Scream 7's $97 million global start and setting a Paramount record for a comedy. CinemaScore C+.
• June 2026: It opens No. 1 in the UK and Ireland with 4.1 million pounds. Anna Faris reveals her Melania Trump joke was cut.
• June 2026: Variety projects a second weekend of $14.6 million, a 73 percent drop. Variety publishes its long Anna Faris interview.
• June 2026: Variety details how Paramount rewrote jokes for some countries, including Brazil and Mexico.
• June 2026: Director Michael Tiddes signs with WME.
• June 2026: Deadline reports the franchise has crossed $1 billion worldwide, 26 years after it started, with the new film at $208.5 million.
• July 21, 2026: The extended cut, 13 minutes longer with an alternate ending, arrives on digital.
• August 19, 2026: Paramount+ sets September 3 for streaming.
• September 3, 2026: The film starts streaming on Paramount+.
• September 5, 2026: CBR reports the film is the No. 2 movie on Paramount+ in the United States, citing FlixPatrol.
• September 2026: Box Office Mojo shows $108.3 million domestic and $123.6 million overseas for $231.9 million worldwide on a $30 million budget. It is the second highest grossing film in the series.
• September 22, 2026: The 2026 film comes out on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD. The first Scary Movie gets a new 4K release the same day.
• As of September 2026: No sequel has been announced. Carmen Electra told Variety she needs to come back for the next movie because she wasn't killed in this one.

Trivia

• Scary Movie was the working title of Scream. Yahoo Movies UK and E! Online both note that Kevin Williamson's script carried that title before it became Scream.
• Two competing scripts became the first film. E! Online gives the Wayans script's working title as Last Summer I Screamed Because Friday the 13th Fell on Halloween. Bo Zenga told Variety the Friedberg and Seltzer script was called Scream If You Know What I Did Last Halloween, and Wikipedia also mentions Scream If You Still Know What I Did Last Halloween.
• Writers Guild credit went to Friedberg and Seltzer too, which angered the Wayans, who said none of that script was used.
• Bo Zenga sued Brillstein-Grey on July 7, 2000, the day the film opened, saying he had been promised an equal partnership. Attorney Bert Fields answered that no one gave him their word he would be a 50-50 partner.
• The poster tagline was No Mercy. No Shame. No Sequel. Bob Weinstein told Entertainment Weekly in July 2000 that the sequel's marketing campaign was ready: Look, we lied! Scary Movie 2's tagline was We Lied.
• The Wayans wrote as many as ten drafts, including a Black draft, a white draft, a high school draft and a college draft.
• Scary Movie opened to $42.3 million on 2,912 screens, beating Air Force One's record for an R-rated opening. IGN reported the opening at $42.5 million at the time. It was the second biggest opening of 2000, behind Mission: Impossible 2.
• It made $157 million domestic, passing Good Will Hunting as Miramax's biggest earner in North America, and $278 million worldwide. It was the ninth highest grossing film of 2000 in the United States.
• Anna Faris had no agent and no headshot. Her mother and neighbors shot her audition tape in Edmonds, Washington.
• Faris was paid 65,000 Canadian dollars for the first film on a three-picture deal. She told Variety she never got a paycheck comparable to the men, and neither did Regina Hall.
• Faris did not know what to do the first time Keenen called action. Jon Abrahams told her to say her line.
• Keenen Ivory Wayans told Faris there is no vanity in comedy and never to wink at the audience.
• Marlon Wayans said in 2026 that Melissa Joan Hart was supposed to play Cindy. Wikipedia and Variety say Hart and Jenny McCarthy auditioned for Drew Decker. E! Online says Alicia Silverstone turned down Cindy.
• Aaliyah turned down Brenda because the part parodied Brandy's role in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. Regina Hall has said a producer told her not to do Scary Movie.
• Carmen Electra's hair was cut shorter to look more like Drew Barrymore's, and the opening was shot in one night.
• Jared Leto reportedly turned down Bobby to make Requiem for a Dream. Marlon Wayans was in Requiem for a Dream that same year.
• Doofy's mannerisms came from a character named Chip that Dave Sheridan had played on stage for years.
• A real Ghost Face costume from Scream is in the shot where Cindy sees the killer outside the classroom window. A replica was used everywhere else.
• The cast stayed at the Sutton Place hotel in Vancouver, which Dave Sheridan says they called the Slut-inn.
• The Wazzup scene was added late because the Budweiser ad got hot near the end of filming. Bo Zenga told Variety that is when the film went from the red-headed stepchild to a movie that might do really well.
• Ray's rant while stabbing Bobby, that The Wayans Bros. never got a final episode, is true. The WB canceled the sitcom in 1999 without a proper finale.
• For the DVD, a line that reportedly offended Gwyneth Paltrow was taken out, according to Variety.
• James Van Der Beek agreed to his Dawson cameo right away. Marlon Wayans remembers him saying, Oh, I'm game. Van Der Beek won Best Cameo at the 2001 MTV Movie Awards for it.
• Keenen Ivory Wayans cameos as a slave in the fake Amistad II trailer.
• The first film won the 2000 Teen Choice Award for Movie of the Summer. Cheri Oteri won Favorite Supporting Actress in a Comedy at the 2001 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards.
• Marlon Wayans says the family learned from the news that Scary Movie 3 would be made without them. He told Variety in 2020 it was Christmas Eve, and told Variety in 2026 it was New Year's Eve.
• After the Wayans left, Keenen asked Anna Faris not to do Scary Movie 3. She was under contract and feared a lawsuit if she broke it. LADbible says she had not spoken to the brothers in 20 years when Marlon called her in February 2025.
• Eminem, credited as Marshall Mathers, is a co-writer of Royce da 5'9"'s Scary Movies (Sequel) on the first soundtrack. The 2026 trailer was cut to Eminem's Without Me.
• Marlon Brando shot one day as the priest in Scary Movie 2 before leaving because of illness. James Woods replaced him and was paid $1 million for four days.
• Scary Movie 2 has no official soundtrack album and no original score. Sugar Ray, heard in the film, was also on the Scream 2 soundtrack.
• Scary Movie 3 was the first PG-13 entry. Scary Movie 2 was the last R-rated film until 2026.
• Scary Movie 3 streamed on Netflix under a Filmyard Holdings deal from 2011 until June 1, 2016.
• Scary Movie 3 holds the pre-2026 opening record for the series. Wikipedia and The Numbers put it at $48.1 million, and Box Office Mojo shows an estimated $49.7 million. Scary Movie 4's $40.2 million was the best Easter weekend opening at the time, beating Panic Room's $30.1 million.
• Craig Mazin, who co-wrote Scary Movie 3 and 4, voiced the Saw villain in Scary Movie 4 and later created HBO's Chernobyl. David Zucker voiced Zoltar in Scary Movie 4 and plays a Packer fan in Scary Movie 5.
• Carmen Electra won the 2007 Golden Raspberry for Worst Supporting Actress for Scary Movie 4 and Date Movie.
• The Weinstein Company reportedly tried to buy A Haunted House, directed by Michael Tiddes, to shelve it and use its ideas for Scary Movie 5. The offer was turned down. Tiddes later directed the 2026 Scary Movie.
• Lindsay Lohan reportedly only showed up for her Scary Movie 5 scene after a lawsuit threat and a private jet sent to pick her up, per a report Dread Central passed along.
• Director Malcolm D. Lee was busy starting The Best Man Holiday during early 2013, so David Zucker handled the Scary Movie 5 reshoots.
• Scary Movie 5 is the only film without Anna Faris and Regina Hall. It got 4 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, 11 on Metacritic and a C minus CinemaScore, and it is the lowest grossing entry at about $78 million. Faris says she was not invited back because of age and money.
• Dimension Films shut down on July 16, 2018, after The Weinstein Company's bankruptcy. The 2026 film is the first in the series not made by Dimension.
• Jonathan Glickman's first job out of college was as an intern for producer Joe Roth, and the first script he read there was Keenen Ivory Wayans's A Low Down Dirty Shame.
• Marlon Wayans promised his father Howell, near the end of his life, that he and his brothers would work together again. His father told him, Do it for me. Howell died in 2023.
• The Michael parody took less than half a day to write after Marlon saw the Michael trailer. He picked Kenan Thompson because it would be a great mashup to see someone from SNL in the In Living Color world.
• Teyana Taylor's real Golden Globe was not used in the 2026 opening. Marlon Wayans told USA Today, If it was the real one, I would have stolen it.
• The film within the film in 2026 is called Horror Movie, the series' answer to Scream's Stab.
• Anthony Anderson says he first signed on to Scary Movie 3 hoping to work with Marlon and Shawn, before he realized they had left the franchise.
• Melissa Barrera said in April 2024 that being in the new Scary Movie would be so fun. She is not in the film.
• Carmen Electra says the 2026 casting call first asked for a Carmen Electra type before they decided to get her. She flew straight to Atlanta to shoot.
• Chris Elliott has played three different characters: Hanson in Scary Movie 2, Ezekiel in Scary Movie 4 and Shorthand in 2026.
• Lochlyn Munro has made five films with the Wayans family: Scary Movie, White Chicks, Little Man, Dance Flick and the 2026 Scary Movie.
• Miramax fully financed the 2026 film for $30 million. Per iSpot via Deadline, Paramount's TV ad spend on it was $2.8 million, against $12.3 million for Masters of the Universe.
• The 2026 opening was the best for a pure comedy since 22 Jump Street's $57 million in 2014, per Deadline.
• Sources disagree on the 2026 opening weekend. Deadline's Sunday estimate and Variety's weekend report say $55 million, and the final Box Office Mojo figure is $54.3 million.
• In Brazil the 2026 film had Paramount's biggest opening ever, beating Noah. In Colombia and Bolivia it had the biggest opening of any Paramount film.
• Paramount had jokes rewritten for some countries. In Brazil a U.S. serial killer reference became a Brazilian one. In Mexico one line was rebuilt around a viral TikTok from a woman in Yucatan and another became an albur, a Mexican Spanish double entendre.
• The 2026 film's $50.5 million overseas opening was 75 percent above the previous series record. Variety says the old record was Scary Movie 3's, and Deadline says it was the first film's.
• AMC Burbank was the top grossing single theater for the 2026 film's opening weekend.
• Deadline counted the first five films at more than $896 million worldwide. With the 2026 film the series passed $1 billion in June 2026, and Deadline noted it was the second franchise to do so that summer after The Devil Wears Prada.
• Anna Faris told Variety that people still stop her to say, Yo, that jacket is tight!
• Shannon Elizabeth signed a three-picture Miramax deal after American Pie. She runs the animal rescue group Animal Avengers.
• Regina Hall said in November 2024, before she was cast, that she was thrilled at the possibility that the band could get back together.
• The Budweiser Whassup? ad the first film spoofs first aired on December 20, 1999, during Monday Night Football. It was based on Charles Stone III's short film True, won the Cannes Grand Prix and the Grand Clio, and entered the CLIO Hall of Fame in 2006.
• In October 2000 the British duo Shaft, recording as Da Muttz, released a novelty single called Wassuup! that reached No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart.
• Fun World's 2000 Scary Movie mask line skipped the Killer's own mask because retailers thought it looked too much like the regular Ghost Face mask.
• Charlie Sheen is in three films: Tom Logan in Scary Movie 3, the same character uncredited in Scary Movie 4, and Charlie Sanders in Scary Movie 5.
• Carmen Electra is in three films in three different parts: Drew Decker in the first, Holly in Scary Movie 4 and a bartender cameo in 2026.
• The Film Stage reported in 2011 that the studio hoped to bring back Regina Hall, Anthony Anderson and Kevin Hart for Scary Movie 5. None of them are in it.
• The first image from Scary Movie 5, Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen in the opening scene, came out on September 20, 2012.
• Sources disagree on Scary Movie 3's worldwide gross. Box Office Mojo and Wikipedia say $220.7 million. The Numbers lists $155.2 million.
• Sources disagree on the franchise total. Wikipedia's series page gives $1,128,705,718 worldwide on a combined $202 million budget. The Numbers' franchise page, as of September 2026, adds up to $569,301,442 domestic and $1,062,191,464 worldwide. It also dates Scary Movie 5 to April 11, 2013, and the 2026 film to June 3, 2026, instead of the wide release dates of April 12 and June 5.
• The Numbers lists the fifth film as Scary Movie V, and so does Paramount's own Paramount+ guide. Its poster styled the title Scary MoVie.
• The 2026 writing credits are Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Craig Wayans and Rick Alvarez. The same five are producers.
• Paramount's Paramount+ guide names the Megan movies, the Smile movies, Sinners and Wednesday among the 2026 film's targets.
• The 2026 film arrived 13 years after Scary Movie 5 and 26 years after the first film, the longest gap in the series.
• Ghostface's line in the bong popcorn bucket reveal was I've seen some popcorn buckets in my day, but this one smokes the competition.
• A different film called Scary Movie, a 1991 indie, is not connected to this series.
• The 2026 KPop Demon Hunters sequence came from Marlon Wayans watching the film with his daughter after the backlash he got when his film Him opened against Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle.

Online

• Official site for the 2026 film: https://www.scarymovie.film/
• Marlon Wayans announced on Instagram on March 3, 2026, that the release was moving up from June 12 to June 5.
• The Subservient Ghostface website, a Paramount marketing site for the 2026 film, drew 200 million views and 53 million site interactions, per Deadline.
• Paramount's social content for the 2026 film topped 1 billion views, per Deadline. The official trailer drew more than 410 million views in its first seven days, the second biggest trailer debut in Paramount history.
• Paramount made a Nike parody tied to the NBA playoffs with shooting coach Chris Lethal Shooter Matthews, and a Scary Movie spoof of A24's Backrooms for theaters and digital.
• Variety reports Paramount made a racy Vegemite-inspired poster for Australia.
• Anna Faris Is Unqualified, Faris's advice podcast, ran from 2015 to 2023 and won the Shorty Award for best podcast.
• Scriptnotes is the screenwriting podcast Craig Mazin, co-writer of Scary Movie 3 and 4, started with John August in 2011.
• Club Shay Shay, 2024: Marlon Wayans told Shannon Sharpe how the family lost the franchise.
• Daily Variety podcast, July 2026: director Michael Tiddes on how he got the job and what is in the extended cut.
• Entertainment Tonight, June 2026: Faris asked Marlon and Shawn who they had turned down, and Marlon said Melissa Joan Hart was supposed to play Anna's part.
• CBR reported in 2025, citing FlixPatrol, that Scary Movie 2 and Scary Movie were No. 4 and No. 5 on Paramount+'s global movie chart, with the films most popular in Latin America and South America.
• Paramount+ Sneak Peak published a guide to watching the franchise in order, with running times for both cuts of the 2026 film.
• Paramount Press Express, August 2026: the release announcing the 2026 film on Paramount+ from September 3, with the full cast and credits.
• The Scary Movie Wiki on Fandom (scarymovie.fandom.com) is the main fan-run reference site for the series.

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• Scary Movie (2026) weekend box office chart, The Numbers
• Scary Movie (2000), Box Office Mojo
• Scary Movie to start streaming Sept. 3 on Paramount+, UPI (August 19, 2026)
• Paramount's $231M Sequel to Cult Classic Horror Explodes on Streaming, CBR (September 5, 2026)
• Cindy Campbell, Wikipedia
• Brenda Meeks, Wikipedia
• List of Scary Movie (film series) characters, Wikipedia
• Ghostface (Scream), Wikipedia
• Scream (franchise), Wikipedia
• Marlon Wayans, Wikipedia
• Shawn Wayans, Wikipedia
• Carmen Electra, Wikipedia
• David Zucker, Wikipedia
• James L. Venable, Wikipedia
• David Kitay, Wikipedia
• Lochlyn Munro, Wikipedia
• The Wayans Bros., Wikipedia
• MusicBrainz: Scary Movie: Music That Inspired the Soundtrack?
• MusicBrainz: Scary Movie 3 soundtrack
• MusicBrainz: Scary Movie 4 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
• MusicBrainz: Scary Movie: Music from the Motion Picture (2026)
• Film Music Reporter: Scary Movie 5 Soundtrack Announced
• Film Music Reporter: Scary Movie 5 Score Album Details Announced
• Film Music Reporter: Haim Mazar to Score Michael Tiddes' Scary Movie
• NME: Every song on the Scary Movie reboot soundtrack
• Entertainment Weekly (archive): Scary Movie oral history, 2017
• Entertainment Weekly (archive): Scary Movie spawns a lawsuit and breeds a probable sequel, 2000
• Entertainment Weekly (archive): Marlon Wayans unveils first trailer for Scary Movie 6
• Variety: Scary Movie Turns 20
• Variety: 'Scary' vid leads BV's holiday parade (2000)
• Variety: How Marlon Wayans Survived Hell, Hollywood and Harvey Weinstein
• Variety: Anna Faris interview, June 2026
• Variety: Anna Faris Reveals Scary Movie 6 Cut Her Melania Trump Jokes
• Variety: Scary Movie 6 Trailer
• Variety: Box Office preview, June 3, 2026
• Variety: Scary Movie Opens to $55 Million
• Variety: Carmen Electra on Returning to Scary Movie 6
• Variety: Scary Movie Reboot Leads U.K. and Ireland Box Office
• Variety: Daily Variety podcast, Scary Movie Tops Box Office
• Variety: Box Office, Disclosure Day Makes First Contact
• Variety: How Scary Movie Conquered the International Box Office
• Variety: Scary Movie Gets Second Wind on PVOD With Extended Director's Cut
• Variety: Shannon Elizabeth on OnlyFans, Nudity, Harvey Weinstein and More
• Variety: Scary Movie Sets Paramount+ Release Date
• Deadline: The Wayans Brothers Reunite For New Scary Movie
• Deadline: Marlon Wayans Recalls James Van Der Beek's Scary Movie Cameo
• Deadline: Scary Movie CinemaCon 2026 footage
• Deadline: Scary Movie and Masters of the Universe Eyeing $35M+ Openings
• Deadline: Scary Movie Eyes $70M WW
• Deadline: Scary Movie review
• Deadline: Anna Faris Says Neve Campbell, JLH Were So Lovely
• Deadline: Melissa Joan Hart Was Almost In Scary Movie
• Deadline: Scary Movie $55M Bow, Sunday box office
• Deadline: Michael Tiddes Signs With WME
• Deadline: Scary Movie Franchise Crosses $1 Billion
• Deadline: Scary Movie Sets Paramount+ Release Date
• The Hollywood Reporter: New Scary Movie in the Works From Paramount
• The Hollywood Reporter: Scary Movie Moves Up June Release
• Los Angeles Times: 'Scary Movie' Makes a Gross Statement (2000)
• IGN: Weekend Box Office, Scary Movie Spooks Competition (2000)
• E! Online: 20 Surprising Secrets About Scary Movie
• The Sydney Morning Herald: Jacko sues Scary jokers (2003)
• USA Today: How Scary Movie pulled off that surprise opening cameo
• Polygon: Scary Movie 6 KPop Demon Hunters parody
• Vulture: Every Horror Film Spoofed in the New Scary Movie
• Vulture: Every Movie Spoofed in the Scary Movie Franchise (2013)
• NBC News / AP: Scary Movie tops box office
• MovieWeb: Scary Movie Officially Confirms Digital Streaming Date
• CBR: The Wayans Brothers' Big Horror Movies Become Streaming Hits
• ComicBook.com: Scary Movie 6 Will Spoof These Great Horror Movies
• Inverse: Melissa Barrera Wants to Be in Scary Movie 6
• TV Insider: Regina Hall on the Scary Movie reboot
• Classix Philly 107.9: Anthony Anderson Confirms His Return for Scary Movie 6
• Dread Central: Felissa Rose Joins Scary Movie 6
• Dread Central: Scary Movie 6 Spoofs Sinners, Weapons, and A Quiet Place
• Dread Central: NECA Reimagines Its Ultimate Ghost Face With Nod to Scary Movie's Killer
• Dread Central: Scary Movie Blu-ray Review, No, Not That One (1991 film)
• Dread Central: Scary Movie 5 Trolls Evil Dead
• Dread Central: Lindsay Lohan Allergic to Scary Movie 5
• Dread Central: Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen Sign on for Fifth Scary Movie?
• Dread Central: Scary Movie 5 Begins Production
• Scary Movie Wiki (Fandom): Ghostface
• Scary Movie Wiki (Fandom): Horror Movie
• Scream Wiki (Fandom): List of Crossovers and References
• The Numbers: Scary Movie 4 DVD sales
• Box Office Mojo: Scary Movie (2026)
• Fun World, Bleeding Wassup! Scary Movie (1) Mask, item 8503
• Fun World Halloween masks catalog
• It's Fun Tyme!, Fun World ghost masks history
• Chicago Costume, Scary Movie Wassup! Ghost Face
• Cappel's, Licensed Scary Movie Hooded Ghost Face Masks
• Amazon, Fun World Officially Licensed Scary Movie Stoned Face Mask
• Amazon, Fun World Officially Licensed Scary Movie Wassup Mask
• Spirit Halloween, Ghost Face Wassup Costume Kit
• Spirit Halloween, Wassup Smiley Spoof Ghost Face Mask
• Spirit Halloween, Ghost Face Wassup Hoodie
• Spirit Halloween, Ghost Face Scary Movie Full Mask
• Spirit Halloween, Wassup! Bling Spoof Mask
• Haunted Attraction Network, Spirit Halloween's Ghost Face lineup 2026
• The Direct, Every Scary Movie 6 popcorn bucket from AMC and more
• EpicStream, Scary Movie 6 popcorn bucket
• That Eric Alper, Scary Movie popcorn bucket and PAX tie-in, May 22, 2026
• Paramount Press Express, Scary Movie launches exclusively on Paramount+ starting September 3
• BroadwayWorld, Scary Movie to launch exclusively on Paramount+, August 19, 2026
• Paramount+ Sneak Peak, How to watch the Scary Movie franchise
• Screen-Connections, Scary Movie Extended Cut digital and 4K details
• Kevin Hart, Wikipedia
• Anthony Anderson, Wikipedia
• Charlie Sheen, Wikipedia
• Pamela Anderson, Wikipedia
• Whassup?, Wikipedia
• Box Office Mojo: Scary Movie (2026) weekend chart
• Box Office Mojo: Scary Movie 2
• Dance Flick, Wikipedia
• James Van Der Beek, Wikipedia
• TMDB: Scary Movie 2 cast and crew
• TMDB: Scary Movie 3 cast and crew
• TMDB: Scary Movie 4 cast and crew
• MusicBrainz API: Scary Movie 4 score release