When comparing the best horror movies of the past to the some of the chilling instant classics that have come out in more recent years, it is clear that the genre is quite different today from what it used to be. Of course, with every new era in a cinematic genre’s evolution comes new styles, archetypes, and tropes to poke fun at, which means that now is a perfect time to revive the Scary Movie franchise. Indeed, there is another sequel to the hit comedy movie series in the works.
The original installment from 2000, also a brainchild of the Wayans family, is widely considered to be one of the best parody movies of its time — if not all time — and became a huge enough critical and commercial hit to spawn four follow-ups and additional comedies taking aim at other genres, such as Date Movie and Epic Movie. However, it has been quite some time since Hollywood has released a mainstream spoof movie with all the ridiculous pop culture references, cartoonish sight gags, and infantile crudeness that fans of the genre know and love. Thus, in addition to the many genuine upcoming horror movies to look forward to, they must be quite excited by the announcement of Scary Movie 6, and we have all the known facts about the upcoming comedy compiled for you in our guide below.
What Is The Scary Movie 6 Release Date?
Only recently was Scary Movie 6 announced, so no official release date has been confirmed at the moment. However, it is expected to hit theaters at some point in 2025, but when in that year remains to be determined. A part of us wishes we could see it appear on our upcoming 2024 movies schedule, but that is quite unlikely given how far into development the comedy sequel is.
Who Is In The Scary Movie 6 Cast?
Because the film is so early in development, we do not have any Scary Movie 6 cast members to report on at the moment either. However, in 2022, former franchise lead Anna Faris expressed interest in reprising her role as Cindy Campbell — who is based on original Scream cast member Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott — and, according to Entertainment Tonight, Rebecca Hall responded by saying she would love to join her as Brenda once again. Seeing some of the OG Scary Movie stars show up could very likely boost anticipation for the sequel.
One actor who has already expressed interest in appearing in Scary Movie 6 is someone who has a close connection to the same beloved horror franchise that first inspired the original spoof: Melissa Barrera. The modern horror movie Scream Queen told Inverse that she thinks it would be fun to poke fun her role as Sam Carpenter in the fifth and sixth Scream movies — a stint that ended abruptly and shockingly when she was fired from Scream 7 for comments about the Israel-Palestine conflict. The Scary Movie franchise has always been at its best when it goes for jugular with meta humor and such a cameo would be undeniably epic.
Produced By Neal H. Moritz
No director or writer has been named for Scary Movie 6, but we do know from a report by Deadline that the film is being produced by Neal H. Moritz under Miramax, which is now a subsidiary of Paramount.
Moritz actually has experience with producing spoof movies — namely the highly underrated high school movies parody, Not Another Teen Movie — as well as horror movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer and Urban Legend, which might actually make him a perfect choice to produce this installment, which will be his first. His filmography also includes even more versatile choices, including Sweet Home Alabama and the Fast and Furious movies, as well as TV shows like Amazon Prime’s The Boys.
As previously established, the franchise was pioneered by director Keenen Ivory Wayans, who also co-produced with his brothers Shawn and Marlon, who co-wrote the script and had main roles in the cast. The trio returned in the same positions for 2001’s Scary Movie 2, but third installment from 2003 and 2006’s Scary Movie 4 were both helmed by David Zucker of Airplane! fame and also involved The Last of Us series developer Craig Mazin with a writing credit. Five years later, Zucker would team up with Pat Proft to write 2013’s Scary Movie 5, which was directed by The Best Man and Undercover Brother helmer Malcolm D. Lee.
Scary Movie 6 Was Announced At CinemaCon 2024
We first caught word of the Scary Movie franchise’s return during Paramount’s panel at CinemaCon 2024 in Las Vegas. This was actually not the only spoof movie revival that was addressed during the event. Also in 2025, we can expect to see star Liam Neeson’s long-awaited reboot of The Naked Gun — which originally starred the late, great Leslie Nielsen — and it will be directed by Akiva Schaffer of The Lonely Island fame.
How To Watch The First Five Scary Movies
The Scary Movie franchise is a great marathon to have on Halloween night when you are not in the mood to watch anything really horrific, but love to see those kinds of thrillers get lampooned. Here’s a quick guide for where you can watch them now:
What Classic Horror Movies Has The Franchise Spoofed So Far?
As previously mentioned, the Scream movies were the primary target of the original Scary Movie (which, coincidentally, was the original working title for director Wes Craven’s 1996 slasher revival), but it also borrowed the plot and key moments from another Kevin Williamson-penned thriller called I Know What You Did Last Summer. Scary Movie 2 shifted its main focus from slashers to haunted house movies like The Amityville Horror and House on Haunted Hill, but also opened with a parody of 1973’s The Exorcist.
Both the third and fourth installments take aim at alien invasion movies — specifically M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs and Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds — while Scary Movie 3 is more heavily inspired by The Ring and Scary Movie 4 also has major plot points referencing the Saw movies and The Grudge. The main story of Scary Movie V is lifted from 2013’s Mama, but also largely incorporates elements of the Paranormal Activity movies. Every installment has also branched out to mock films from other genres, too, such as when Cindy Campbell kicks Ghostface in the style of the “bullet time” sequences from The Matrix.
We can only imagine what sort of new horror flicks are going to the spoof treatment in Scary Movie 6. There could be a few references to creepy clown movies like It and Terrifier or A24 horror movies like Hereditary or Midsommar, or maybe even a few horror-comedy movies like Ready or Not to pile on the laughs. We’re looking forward to finding out what recent classics become the butt of the joke when the sequel hits theaters.