Marlon Wayans confirms he’ll be reprising the role of Shorty for Scary Movie 6
Twelve years have gone by since the release of a new entry in the Scary Movie horror parody series – but the franchise isn’t going to remain dormant for much longer. Last April, it was announced that the Miramax label at Paramount, which is now operating under new boss Jonathan Glickman, had given the greenlight to a new Scary Movie sequel (which would be Scary Movie 6, if they continue putting numbers in the titles), with the plan being to get the film into theatres sometime in 2025. Well, they weren’t able to get the film into production as quickly as they hoped, and earlier this year it was announced that Scary Movie 6 is scheduled to reach theatres on June 12, 2026. The Scary Movie series is being revived with the help of the people who got it started in the first place: the Wayans Brothers – and while speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Marlon Wayans confirmed that he’ll be reprising the role of Shorty Meeks, the character he played in the first two movies, in the new sequel. (Which may have its title stylized as Scary MoVIe.)
The Wayans Brothers are writing the screenplay with Rick Alvarez, who has previously worked with members of the family on multiple projects, including A Haunted House, A Haunted House 2, Fifty Shades of Black, Naked, Sextuplets, Dance Flick, Little Man, White Chicks, and Scary Movie 2, among other things. It was previously confirmed that franchise stars Anna Faris and Regina Hall are officially coming back to play Cindy Campbell and Brenda Meeks.
Marlon Wayans told Entertainment Weekly that he had to slim down for the new Scary Movie, after bulking up to play a football player in the horror movie Him. “Physically, I like to endure some kind of crazy regimen. Even right now, it’s Scary Movie. I just lost 20 pounds busting my behind every day ’cause I didn’t wanna show up to set as Shorty buff at 225. That’d be lazy of me. I wanna do the work, I wanna look like Shorty. So when I’m able to [in his Shorty voice] have fun and s—, people are able to laugh at me, son.” As for how they’re approaching Scary Movie 6, “I think you have to acknowledge how comedy has changed. Not just horror has changed, but films have changed, the audience has changed, the world has shifted. I think the way to do that is to make the generational gap part of the conversation. That’s how we constructed the movie so we could talk about it all. It’s a conversation with these funny characters, and they just so happen to be going through this. The more pressure you put on characters and the more horrific the situations, that’s when you really get to know the characters.“
He added that, in addition to himself, Faris, and Hall, other actors from earlier Scary Movies might be coming back for the new one. No deals have been made, but “we have plans to bring a few more back.“
Directed by In Living Color creator Keenen Ivory Wayans from a screenplay written by a bunch of people (Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg, and Aaron Seltzer), the first Scary Movie was released by Dimension Films back in 2000. Scary Movie 2 was released in 2001, and the Wayans remained at the head of the creative team for that one. Keenen Ivory Wayans directed it from a screenplay credited to Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Alyson Fouse, Greg Grabianski, Dave Polsky, Michael Anthony Snowden, and Craig Wayans. There was a shake-up behind the scenes on 2003’s Scary Movie 3, as Dimension hired Airplane and The Naked Gun director David Zucker to take the helm. Zucker directed that film from a screenplay by Craig Mazin and Pat Proft. That trio returned for Scary Movie 4 in 2006, with Jim Abrahams also receiving a writing credit. Seven years later, Pat Proft and David Zucker came back to write Scary Movie 5, which was directed by Undercover Brother‘s Malcolm D. Lee.
The first Scary Movie was made on a budget of $19 million and earned $278 million at the box office, so the budgets increased for most of the sequels. Scary Movie 2 cost $45 million and made $141 million, Scary Movie 3 cost $48 million and made almost $221 million, and Scary Movie 4 was made for $40 million and earned $178 million at the box office. After the lengthy break between movies, Scary Movie 5 got a lower budget, dropping back down to $20 million. That was a good decision, because the film only made $78 million at the box office.
Scary Movie 5 was the only film in the franchise not to feature Anna Faris and Regina Hall – and with them returning for Scary Movie 6, the fifth film will remain the only one not to have them in it.
Are you looking forward to Scary Movie 6, and are you glad to hear that Marlon Wayans is bringing Shorty back? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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