For Shannon Elizabeth fans, your favorite Scary Movie probably won’t be the upcoming “rebooquel.”
After breaking out in American Pie, Elizabeth helped launch the Scary Movie franchise, starring in the original 2000 film as Buffy Gilmore. But Elizabeth is one of the few actors from the first installment who won’t be returning for the sixth film, also titled Scary Movie, which finds the Wayans family retaking control of the series. Elizabeth recently revealed that she was “hoping to be a part of it, but I didn’t get the call,” prompting star, producer and co-writer Marlon Wayans to explain why her phone never rang.
“Love Shannon, definitely wasn’t personal,” he told the Shade Room. “But it was toooooo many people coming back.”
That said, Wayans added, “The franchise ain’t going nowhere so maybe down the line somewhere.”
Dimension Films
Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and co-written by Marlon and Shawn Wayans, the 2000 horror parody starred Anna Faris as Cindy Campbell, whose group of friends soon becomes the target of a masked killer. Cindy’s pals were played by Regina Hall, Lochlyn Munro, Jon Abrahams, Marlon and Shawn Wayans, and Elizabeth, but Elizabeth is the only one not set to appear in the new film. While Elizabeth’s Buffy does get beheaded late in Scary Movie, most of the characters have died and then magically been fine once the next outing begins.
The Wayans brothers left the franchise after the 2001 sequel, but the Bob and Harvey Weinstein-owned Dimension Films continued without them and made three more installments. Once the first family of Scary Movie decided to revive the property, Marlon said he was determined to reunite himself and Shawn with Faris and Hall.
“Anna and Regina had to be a part of this with us, because we all started together and we wanted to bring everybody back for this reunion,” he recently told EW. “When we were gone, they continued the franchise with Anna and Regina, and it was never personal with us; we always wished them well. Scary Movie launched all of us into outer space, so, for us to all come back, it was a lot of tears on the set. And we laughed all the way through. We let them have fun, we let them improvise, and you’re gonna see it all over this movie… And when you see the four of us together, it’s optimal nostalgia.”
Scary Movie hits theaters June 5.
—Additional reporting by Ryan Coleman