It's been 18 years since Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Anna Faris, and Regina Hall last suited up to parody horror films, and now they're back for a Scary Movie reboot that asks a very important question: Does spoof comedy still work in 2026?
The trailer dropped today, reuniting the original cast for what appears to be a new take on the franchise that defined early-2000s comedy. The film promises the same irreverent, no-holds-barred humor that made the original a cultural phenomenon—complete with over-the-top slapstick, meta references, and the kind of jokes that definitely wouldn't fly on a Disney+ show.
But here's the thing: the landscape has changed.
When the original Scary Movie hit theaters in 2000, it was parodying a specific moment in horror—Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, the wave of self-aware teen slashers that dominated the late '90s. The jokes worked because audiences had just seen those films and were primed for mockery.
What's the 2026 version parodying? Midsommar? Hereditary? M3GAN? Modern horror has become so self-aware and genre-savvy that it's almost impossible to parody without just repeating the joke the original film was already making.
The other challenge: comedy has changed. The Wayans Brothers' brand of humor—broad, physical, sometimes crass—feels like a relic of a different era. Not bad, necessarily, just... out of step with where comedy has moved. Today's audiences grew up on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place, and Atlanta—shows that prioritize character and wit over pure absurdity.
That said, there's something appealing about the sheer shamelessness of the Scary Movie franchise. In an era where every comedy is or there's room for something that's just . Stupid fun, sure, but fun nonetheless.
