‘Scary Movie’ Almost Had a Much Different Ending That Wouldn’t Have Made Much Sense
Scary Movie, the sixth chapter of the horror spoof franchise created by the Wayans Bros., has already had a good amount of success despite critical disappointment. It’s now the third-highest-grossing film in the series, with time to go still. I didn’t love the film, but I did love the ending, which completely eviscerates the trend of legacy movies that pass the torch. But that very nearly wasn’t the case.
SCARY MOVIE SPOILERS AHEAD
In a chat with THR, director Michael Tiddes was asked about the ending, in which our legacy characters played by Marlon Wayans (Shorty), Shawn Wayans (Ray), Anna Faris (Cindy), and Regina Hall (Brenda), kill off the surviving newcomers. “We wanted to address the underlying issue that the franchise was taken away from them,” Tiddes told the outlet. “So we knew the beginning and the end that we wanted, and we knew the statements we wanted to make: ‘This is our fucking franchise. We’re not giving it back to anybody now. The motivation for our Ghostfaces is probably stronger in Scary Movie 6 than it ever was in Scream. Audiences are connecting with that, and they’re loving it.”
I’d beg to differ on the motivation comment, but otherwise, not only do I love the mindset of the filmmakers regarding the franchise, but that ending is by far a highlight of the film. Yet, an alternate ending was once planned, in which the new characters do survive. But that didn’t seem logical if the plan was to make a statement that the franchise belonged to the Wayans.
Said Tiddes, “It was something that we were wrestling with during the filming of the movie. The ending that’s in there now was something we came up with while shooting the movie, but we didn’t shoot it until additional photography. After we finished principal photography, we watched the original ending, and the new idea for the ending just kept sitting with us. We were like, “You know what? It would be more impactful.” The original ending was a coda where we wrapped the characters’ stories up individually, and it just didn’t feel as effective.“
I couldn’t agree more. It was the right way to go, and one that provides some of the biggest (and only) laughs of the film.
Adds Tiddes, “We also wanted to end the movie on a big joke, and I really wanted to end on the core four together. So the new ending we’d already been thinking about became perfect, and then we shot it during additional photography. Having the core four walk away with their naked asses out felt so Scary Movie. It’s the last thing the audience sees, and we send them out on a big laugh. We were so sold on it. We had to do it.”
I’m guessing most who have seen the film are glad they did.
Scary Movie is now in theaters via Paramount Pictures.
Categorized:News