Basic Provisions
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Stars and director film "Scary Movie"« lift the veil on the shocking ending with a meta move.
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«"We knew it would be a showdown about the franchise itself. And we knew it would be the climax," co-creator, screenwriter, and star Marlon Wayans told EW.
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«"I think it's brilliant," says Regina Hall. "I'm just thrilled to be a part of this journey," adds Anna Faris. "Did this really happen?" director Michael Tiddes hopes audiences will ask themselves.
This article contains major spoilers for the film "Scary Movie"« .
There was only one way this could end.
If you had a chance to watch the new one «Scary Movie» , Coming 13 years after the last installment of the parody horror franchise, 20 years since stars Anna Faris and Regina Hall last appeared, and 25 years since creators and screenwriters Shawn and Marlon Wayans were involved in the making of the film, you might be surprised to learn that the film is built around its shocking ending. With the return of two breakout stars from the franchise's past, a slew of major character deaths, and, most strikingly, a meta-confrontation between the four main characters for the very soul of "Very scary movie"» turn everything that came before upside down, creating the most daring climax of the series.
But Faris, Hall, the Wayans, and director Michael Tiddes say it wasn't just inevitable; it was something they had to do for the fans.
«"We knew the ending. It was kind of reverse engineering. We knew the ending, then we knew the beginning. And then it was just a matter of figuring out what was in between," Marlon notes in a cover story. Entertainment Weekly , dedicated to the film "Scary Movie" »"We knew it was going to be a fight about the franchise itself.".
Twenty-five years of unspoken feelings, hidden tensions, and struggles for control of the franchise have culminated in a (literally) fiery climax that Tiddes hopes "will take viewers by surprise and make them think, 'What? Did that really happen?'"«
Olivia Rose Keegan, Cameron Scott Roberts, and Savannah Lee Nassif in "Scary Movie." Photo: Quantrell Colbert/Paramount Pictures
Taking sixth place in the chronology of the series, but being a direct continuation of the film "« Scary Movie (2000) quickly shakes off a quarter-century of dust before embracing what Marlon calls "the Wayans signature style" - comedy characterized by a desire to "fill the page with as many jokes as possible.".
Faris's sunny Cindy Campbell is transformed into a feckless mother of two (Olivia Rose Keegan and Savannah Lee Nassif) and a reclusive, MAGA-obsessed woman, in the film's reboot style. «Halloween» . Hall's Brenda Meeks loves her children (Sydney Park and Gregg Wayans) but raises them as mother .
That is, throwing wild parties and earning coolness points by bragging about having swum to Jeffrey Epstein's island. Shorty Meeks, played by Marlon, has been in high school for 25 years, but has made millions by lounging around and live-streaming. And Ray Wilkins, played by Sean, is still struggling to hide his sexuality, this time turning to the church in a parody. on "Sinners"« , to keep myself in check.
As it always happens at the beginning of movies «"Scream"» — a franchise that films «Scary Movie» 2000 and 2026 are taken as a template—a killer in a Ghostface mask appears and ruins everything. And, as with the recent glut of sequels, «"Scream"» , the first to suffer are the members of the next generation. So it seems that Cindy, Brenda, Shorty, and Ray are reuniting only to pass the baton to a new quartet of leading characters. But Marlon and Shawn have been fighting for over two decades to regain control of the franchise (after being kicked out after «Scary Movie 2» (from Dimension Films, which was then controlled by Bob and Harvey Weinstein). Were they really going to return it and then give it away?
In short, to quote Marlon: "Hell no!"«
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«"I remember Marlon and the guys and I were talking about [their plans] for that ending and whether it was even possible on set, and we had a moment of doubt. We were like, 'Well, these are their kids, you know? I mean, can we do that?'" Tiddes teases. "As we were filming, it became obvious. We were looking at each other, laughing, and saying, 'Screw these kids. This is our franchise. We're not bringing it back.'".
The finale «Scary Movie» unfolds at a party at Brenda's house that gets out of control. After Cindy starts a fight, «John Wick» After facing off against a horde of Ghostfaces, she and Brenda are horrified to discover that some of their children are behind the murders. Then, everyone is shocked to learn that Ray and Shorty actually planned the whole thing. A fourth-wall-breaking confrontation ensues, in which Marlon and Shawn seem to break character, lashing out at Faris and Hall for continuing the franchise in their absence.
It's all presented as a comedy: Cindy swears she's still faithful, and Brenda admits she's doing it for the money. Star «Scary Movie 3» Anthony Anderson and the star «Scary Movie 4» Shaquille O'Neal even appears as Ghostface, gets reprimanded by Shorty and Ray, and promptly dies. But the "screw these kids" motto, a phrase each actor used when discussing the finale with EW, becomes strikingly literal when the original four decide to put their petty squabbles to rest and focus on the real threats: their potential successors. They lock Cindy and Brenda's children in the house and set it on fire. The Wayans family makes a continuation of the story with anyone other than the original stars narratively impossible, as Cindy, Brenda, Shorty, and Ray happily walk away from the fire.
Sean points to a line when Cindy, the softest of them all, asks if they were "too hard on the newbies." He laughs, "Not hard enough. To hell with those kids.".
Shaquille O'Neal and Phil McGraw on the set of "Scary Movie 4." Photo: Dimension/Everett. Anthony Anderson and Simon Rex in "Scary Movie 3." Photo: Dimension/Everett.
«We knew it was going to be the climax because it brings together all the information, especially from [ film "Scary Movie" » 2000] and [the film "« Scary Movie 2 »"," Marlon explains. They ruled out the third, fourth, and fifth films because they weren't our style. So we continued the conversation through this larger-scale confrontation. That's what we focused on, knowing we wanted to talk about not just the horror films but the entire franchise.".
Marlon says it was the only way, given that the fans' interests always came first. «We knew the audience deserved to hear that conversation out loud. „What happened when the franchise was taken away? What did you think?“ Anthony Anderson, his appearance and his perspective… We brought Shaq into the film, and we just had this conversation about our franchise. Everyone was asking, „What happened to you? Why did you leave?“ So to be able to resolve that at that moment, for me, it was like, „Oh, that’s it. That’s a damn good ending.“».
New the film "Scary Movie"« critiques not only horror history and its own history, but also the contemporary cultural landscape it was released in. Marlon so 总结道 the "mutual violators" approach they took in the finale: "Fuck these kids, fuck the parents of these fucking teenagers, with all this cancel culture and all this, with these "they" and "them," with all these pronouns. Our generation is so tired of these fucking kids. This is our franchise.".
The film's brutal slaughter of the younger generation is intended as hyperbole, in keeping with the constant jokes directed at the older generation, Marlon explains. "Our goal as the Wayans brothers is to make the world laugh, not tear us apart." He imagines the audience in the theater saying to themselves, "Damn, they're killing their own kids? Their kids are suffering because they think they're trying to hijack a franchise? That's ridiculous.".
Anna Faris, Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans and Regina Hall - exclusive photos for EWC. Photo: Isaac Anthony.
How did Hall and Faris feel about discussing their on-screen relationship history with the Wayans? "I thought it was brilliant to acknowledge it and literally bring it up with us, the two of us who had done other movies, and still keep the comedic element," says Hall. Unlike Faris, she worked with Marlon after «Scary Movie 4» in films «The Second Generation Wayans» 2013 and «Naked» 2017. But there was still unfinished business.
She praises the Wayans family for managing to "handle it and keep it light, because, frankly, Anna and I were in it, but it was originally their own franchise that they created... I think their exit as a foursome was also wonderful because it says, 'It's them now. The kids are burning down the house, what next?'"«
Faris told EW that she hadn't "talked to any of the Wayans brothers since 2002." She was overjoyed to be reunited with Marlon, Shawn, and all the Wayans who worked on «Scary Movie» . "It was the greatest gift of my career—the opportunity to properly thank them and show how delighted I am for them," she says. Her reaction to the provocative ending may be "much more sentimental" than her co-stars, "but the truth is, I'm just happy to have been a part of this journey. It's a great honor.".
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.