A lot of big news has come out of this week's CinemaCon in Las Vegas, but this might be one of the biggest surprises. It's been confirmed that a new Scary Movie is in the works from Paramount and Miramax, with production expected to begin this fall.
Fast & Furious producer Neal H. Moritz will produce the new Scary Movie, and while the glory days of these once frequent parody titles has been and gone, it seems Paramount is willing to take another stab at skewering the horror genre.
The current plan is for the reboot to slash its way into theaters next year (likely in time for Halloween), and we're sure the studio is keen to launch a successful new franchise just like the original series. That launched in 2000, and ultimately ran out of steam with a fifth instalment in 2013.
Scary Movie is being made as part of Paramount's first-look partnership with Miramax; they will fully finance the production, with Paramount handling distribution.
As for Moritz, he's also known for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise and is currently developing a reboot of Face/Off for the studio.
The Scary Movie franchise is a series of comedy films that parody and satirize popular horror, slasher, and mystery films, as well as other elements of popular culture. Known for its irreverent humour, slapstick comedy, and abundance of pop culture references, the franchise has gained a dedicated fanbase despite mixed critical reception.
The franchise kicked off in 2000 with the release of Scary Movie, directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans. The film primarily spoofed the Scream series. Scary Movie 2 took on haunted house and possession movie tropes, with the characters encountering supernatural phenomena while staying in a creepy mansion.
The next three instalments were lacking in terms of a definitive direction but did take aim for celebrity culture and reality TV shows. Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Shawn Wayans, and Marlon Wayans typically headlined the movies, though it's unclear whether any of them will return.
In terms of box office, the franchise has done well, with the first instalment grossing $278 million on a budget of only $19 million. From there, the sequels earned $141 million. $220 million, $178 million, and $78 million, respectively.
The drop for that fifth chapter is why the franchise has spent the better part of a decade on the shelf. However, there are now plenty of popular horror franchises for a new version to tear into...