The Wayans Reclaimed Scary Movie, and It Just Set a Franchise Record
There is something almost poetic about the fact that Scary Movie opened at number one this weekend by beating Backrooms(a movie that is itself a horror parody of sorts) at the box office. The Wayans brothers have been gone from the franchise they created for 25 years. Based on the early returns, audiences were ready for them to come back.
Marlon, Shawn, and Keenen Ivory Wayans reunited for the sixth installment in the series, their first collaboration since 2009's Dance Flick, alongside returning stars Anna Faris and Regina Hall, who first played the endlessly quotable Cindy Campbell and Brenda Meeks in the original 2000 film. The new movie is tracking for a franchise-record opening of approximately $52.7 million, well above the previous high set by Scary Movie 4 in 2006, from 3,490 theaters, on a reported budget of just $30 million.
The reviews have been harder to read than the receipts. The Hollywood Reporter called the film 'perplexing' in its choice to lean back into the same winking self-awareness that had originally hurt the franchise, while the AV Club went sharper in its critique of jokes that felt aimed at a prior era rather than the current one. Discussing Film gave a more generous three out of five, arguing that whatever the film's flaws, there was something genuinely meaningful about watching the brothers reclaim something that had been stripped from them years ago due to a pay dispute.
Related: Iconic Horror Classic Reboot Coming from the Director Who Made an $800 YouTube Movie
What critics across the board agreed on is that the cast is the reason to show up. Faris and Hall fall back into their rhythm as if the years between Scary Movie 2 and now barely happened. The film targets recent horror hits for its spoofs including Backrooms, Longlegs, and Sinners, and the moments that are best, according to multiple reviews, are the ones where the four original leads are simply playing off each other again. 'When it's funny, it's hysterical,' one reviewer noted.
The original Scary Movie opened in 2000 to $42.5 million and went on to become one of the highest-grossing R-rated horror comedies of all time. Marlon Wayans had been direct about what the franchise's post-Wayans years felt like, calling the deal that took it away from his family 'crappy' and saying bluntly, 'You can't do Wayans [stuff] without the Wayans.' This weekend's numbers make a decent argument that he was right.
Whether the film earns a sequel is a box office question to answer later. For now, Cindy and Brenda are back, and judging by the crowds, a lot of people missed them.
Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This story was originally published June 8, 2026 at 10:42 AM.