The stars, reunited with the franchise after 20 years, give us a behind-the-scenes look at the Wayans brothers’ upcoming comedy.

Anna Faris and Regina Hall promise their long-awaited return to Scary Movie will ‘offend everyone’ (exclusive)

The stars, reunited with the franchise after 20 years, give us a behind-the-scenes look at the Wayans brothers' upcoming comedy.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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May 1, 2026 9:00 a.m. ET

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Regina Hall and Anna Faris in 'Scary Movie'. Credit:

Paramount Pictures

- Anna Faris and Regina Hall are giving viewers an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at their 20-year return to the *Scary Movie *franchise's upcoming sixth installment, simply dubbed *Scary Movie*.

- Hall tells EW she loves "working with the Wayans" brothers, who are returning to the franchise after 25 years, because they're "always fun, because there's so much freedom, and so much improv."

- Faris, meanwhile, teases a "budding romance" between her Cindy Campbell and Hall's Brenda Meeks, and pledges, "I would do anything with or for Regina Hall."

"What do you think the odds are that Regina is on set, covered in blood right now?"

Anna Faris knows her old costar all too well. As the *Mom *actress knits in bed on a Zoom call with *, *Hall joins the conversation from the set of a gory mystery project. Could it be Nicholas Stoller's upcoming comedy *Judgment Day *with Will Ferrell? Her upcoming Netflix two-hander *Rabbit, Rabbit *with Adam Driver?

Hall won't say, but she can confirm Faris's guess: "I just committed a murder on my lunch. I am covered in blood. Anna is correct."

While she's on her break, she joins Faris to take EW behind the scenes of their grand return to the *Scary Movie *franchise, 20 years since they last played BFFs Cindy Campbell and Brenda Meeks.

Anna Faris on the set of 'Scary Movie'.

Paramount Pictures

The duo landed their respective parts as the happy-go-lucky Cindy and the practical, take-no-prisoners Brenda at the outset of both of their careers. Hall had appeared in Gina Prince-Bythewood's beloved romance *Love & Basketball *months before the O.G. *Scary Movie*'s premiere in July 2000. It was only her second film credit.

Faris, meanwhile, had a supporting role in the slasher *Lovers Lane*, released months before *Scary Movie* and filmed in Seattle, where she came of age. While Hall enthuses that returning to the franchise that transformed them both into stars was "a really pleasant surprise," in large part because it's "so nice to work together again," Faris lets out a self-deprecating laugh before noting, "I think she has a much less dramatic answer than I do. I've had a full emotional journey with this."

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Now having added sitcom star, bestselling author, and podcast pioneer to her résumé, Faris recalls, "I grew up a cynical Seattle theater kid, hating on L.A. from a distance. *Scary Movie* was my first audition, and I had never done comedy. So it was this incredible blessing."

But it didn't come without turbulence. Faris says she always imagined herself specializing in the kind of dark character work she showcased later in films like *May *and *Smiley Face*, so "for *Scary Movie* to be so defining for me, it felt for a long time like this ill-fitting, frustrating shoe."

Regina Hall and Marlon Wayans on the set of 'Scary Movie'.

Paramount Pictures

Hall has enjoyed similar versatility in her career, appearing at the Oscars a mere month ago alongside the leads of Paul Thomas Anderson's *One Battle After Another*. But there's something about *Scary Movie*, and especially about the brothers behind it, that keeps calling them back.

"You don't get to do a lot of broad comedy, and working with the Wayans is always fun, because there's so much freedom, and so much improv," Hall says. "It was great to be like, 'Where are these people 20-plus years later? What is this next chapter? Marlon and Shawn and Keenen, they figured it out."

Keenen Ivory Wayans directed *Scary Movie *and its sequel, *Scary Movie 2*, while his brothers, Shawn and Marlon Wayans, co-wrote and starred in the first two films. The Wayans were controversially cut from the crew of *Scary Movie 3 *and *4* by their primary producer, the Weinstein Company, but they've finally won back their roles for the franchise's sixth installment, simply titled *Scary Movie*.

Marlon Wayans on the set of 'Scary Movie'.

Paramount Pictures

"I got me and my brothers together to come back to a franchise that we were removed from," Marlon told EW in March. "I think the assignment is to bring back the cast, bring back me and my brothers working together, and to bring back big-ass laughs. The world needs a big-ass laugh."

Faris underlines that point, issuing a warning to the faint of heart that "if you identify as a victim, the Wayans brothers might come after you."

"They sort of have an across-the-board style," Faris explains, pantomiming a machine gun mowing down everyone in sight. "It's always been a part of the Wayans Brothers, their electricity. 'Can we offend you? Will you still love us? Come on, you still love us, don't you?'" Hall concurs, promising the "boundary-pushing" new film will "offend everyone."

Anna Faris and director Michael Tiddes on the set of 'Scary Movie'.

Paramount Pictures

The first *Scary Movie *trailer did generate controversy for jokes about pronouns, safe spaces, and ever-present political divisions. But Faris waves it off. "I gotta tell you, when that's your bootcamp — when getting sprayed to the ceiling by your boyfriend's sperm is your introduction to Hollywood — it's really hard to be offended by myself."

Faris may make light of the wild things the Wayans got her to do over 25 years ago, but she's insistent and effusive in her praise of the brothers. "To come back after all these years in this way has made me cry with gratitude," she says. "I hadn't seen the Wayans brothers since the end of *Scary Movie 2*. All those years have passed, and I didn't want to be one of those actors that never honored their roots."

Now, she's proud of the fact that "when people recognize me, if they do, they usually smile. They usually think about something dumb I did. And *Scary Movie* has given me that gift, that I get to share in people's joy."

Marlon Wayans and Regina Hall on the set of 'Scary Movie'.

Paramount Pictures

Unlike the second, third, and fourth installments in the franchise, which had at most two or three years of recent horror releases to pick on for parody's sake, *Scary Movie* has the benefit of over two decades since Hall, Faris, and the Wayans were last together. Eagle-eyed horror fans picked up nearly a dozen references to recent genre history in the two-minute trailer, from Hall's *Ma* wig to Faris' look referencing the grizzled Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) of the *Halloween* reboot trilogy to jokes about *Sinners*, *Terrifier*, *M3GAN*, *Get Out*, and more.

But what *Scary Movie *comes down to for Faris and Hall is much more personal. "I think Regina feels the same way," Faris says, "that if there was any heart to a *Scary Movie*, it was the friendship between Cindy and Brenda. Which, I like to think Regina doesn't know this, I like to think is becoming a budding romance."

Hall emits peals of laughter as Faris goads, "I mean, I gotta tell you about Ray." Brenda was linked in the first two *Scary Movie *films to Shawn Wayans' Ray Wilkins, whose closeted queerness was exceedingly obvious to everyone but Brenda. "I have a better chance with you than Ray at this point," Hall jokes back.

Back in earnest mode, Faris pledges, "I would do anything with or for Regina Hall, anytime, anywhere. Even though I'm very flaky, I love Regina so much. And I did improv a line," Faris reveals, which says just about everything you need to know about *Scary Movie*. "I look, I mean, Cindy looks at Brenda, and I say, 'I would do anything for you, Brenda.' And I meant it."

*Scary Movie *premieres in theaters on June 5, 2026.

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Source: “EW Comedy”