Marlon Wayans Calls Harvey Weinstein ‘Evil as F**k’ For Stealing ‘Scary Movie’ Franchise
The Wayans brothers have created some of the most popular comedy films of the past two decades. Movies like White Chicks remain a cult classic. But one of their most memorable films is the Scary Movie franchise.
Marlon Wayans has been open about his dissatisfaction with the last two films of the franchise after his family’s exit from the project. But he recently opened up about how Harvey Weinstein is the reason his family was not involved in the others.
The Wayans brothers success with ‘Scary Movie’
The 2000 comedy film is directed by Keenan Ivory Wayans. The film is a parody of a variety of horror and mystery films and television shows, including Scream, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Sixth Sense, and I Know What You Did Last Summer.
The film received mixed reviews from critics but was loved by viewers. Scary Movie was a massive hit, earning $278 million worldwide on a $19 million budget. The success of the first led to four additional sequels.
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The second film was released a year later in 2001. Scary Movie 2 is also a collection of parodies, this time of supernatural and haunted house films throughout the years. Some films parodied in Scary Movie 2, include The Haunting, The Exorcist, The Amityville Horror, Poltergeist, The Legend of Hell House, House on Haunted Hill, The Changeling, Hannibal, and Hollow Man.
It made less money than the first at the box office, coming in at just over $140 million. The reviews for Scary Movie 2 were mainly negative from critics.
A CNN review of Scary Movie 2 notes: “This isn’t a movie — it’s a vaudeville sketch aimed at the lowest common denominator. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; just know what you’re getting for your nine bucks. And also know that if you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen many of the best gags.”
Marlon Wayans says Harvey Weinstein screwed his family over with ‘Scary Movie’ franchise
The Wayans didn’t participate in the creation of any additional Scary Movie films after the second installment. Wayans recently appeared on Kevin Hart‘s Comedy Gold Minds podcast, and explained that it was not his family’s decision to step away from the film.
He claims that Weinstein and his brother Bob, who own the film studio that distributes Scary Movie, stole the franchise and are guilty of unsavory business tactics.
“They were evil as f**k,” Wayans says of the Weinsteins. “We didn’t walk away from a franchise. They didn’t want to make our deal, and they snatched it. [The] Weinsteins did some really terrible, like ‘rape and pillage villages’-type of business…That’s just the way they did their business. So it wasn’t that we ever walked away from our franchise that we created. It was taken, and us being the creatives that we are was like ‘All right, bet. F**k you, now watch what I create.’”
Related: Marlon Wayans Was Written Out of 1992’s ‘Batman Returns’ but Still Receives Royalty Checks Today
Unfortunately, the Wayans opted not to take legal action, which he now admits he regrets. “We probably should sue for hundreds of millions of dollars, because they probably owe us a s**t load of money. And maybe one day we will. But we didn’t walk away from our franchise–them n****s took it.”
Wayans said they found out about the third installment during the Christmas holiday and were stunned. According to Wayans, the Weinstein brothers did not want to pay the Wayans accurately for the subsequent films.
