Paramount Pictures has teamed up with powerhouse producer Neal H. Moritz, renowned for his work on the “Fast and Furious” series, to breathe new life into the “Scary Movie” franchise. The much-anticipated reboot is set to begin production in fall 2024 and is expected to hit theaters in 2025.
First introduced in the early 2000s, the “Scary Movie” series quickly became famous for its comedic take on popular horror films such as “Scream” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” Despite concluding with its fifth installment in 2013, the franchise is poised for a comeback, capitalizing on the continued popularity of the horror genre in cinemas, with recent hits like “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” “Smile,” and “M3GAN” proving there’s plenty of new material ripe for parody.
The reboot marks a collaborative effort under Paramount’s first look partnership with Miramax, the original studio behind the “Scary Movie” series. Miramax, under the leadership of its new CEO, former MGM head Jonathan Glickman, will fully finance the project while Paramount will handle its distribution. This partnership underscores a strategic alignment between Paramount and Miramax, aiming to leverage nostalgic appeal while injecting fresh content for new audiences.
Neal H. Moritz is currently involved in several high-profile projects. Besides the “Scary Movie” reboot, he is an executive producer for “Knuckles,” a six-episode series following the events of “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” debuting on April 26 exclusively on Paramount+. Moritz is also at the helm of “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” slated for release on December 20, 2024, and is developing a reboot of the iconic movie “Face/Off” among other feature film projects at Paramount.
The revival of the “Scary Movie” franchise is expected to generate significant interest, given the series’ past success and the ongoing allure of horror movies at the box office. Fans of the original films and new viewers alike are eager to see how the series will adapt to and satirize the evolution of the horror genre in the modern cinematic landscape.