Spoof movies have never been particularly well regarded. When they’re good, like the original 1980 “Airplane,” they deftly satirize many tropes of your favorite films while also creating laughs derived from their own comedic situations. When they’re bad, they’re most likely directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, the title ends with the word “Movie,” and they spend most their time recreating your favorite scenes from films in an exacting manner infused with Carmen Electra and potty humor. The “Scary Movie” films have always fallen somewhere between the highs and lows of that spectrum, with the franchise's early releases hitting at a time when the horror market was ripe with films containing casts that consisted mostly of The WB alumni, with titles like “Scream” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer” reaching the point of franchise exhaustion. There was plenty of material to work with, and, admittedly, the brothers Damon and Marlon Wayans actually gave audiences a raunchy good time at the movies with the first installment in 2000.
One of the major discoveries amongst the pool of talent that would span throughout 4 installments of the series was actress Anna Faris, who moved onto greener pastures with everything from “Lost In Translation” to the upcoming “The Dictator,” but still showed up to reprise her breakout role. Well, fans should be a little wary as the once seemingly forgotten-about fifth installment in the franchise is still being kicked around by Harvey Weinstein and his brother over at their Dimension Films genre banner, only Faris’ involvement doesn’t look likely. In an interview with ComingSoon she flat-out denied she would be involved. "No, I don't think I'm going to do it," she said. "I don't think I'm part of that. I don't know exactly what's happening with it, but I hear it's sort of in the works and stuff." So it sounds like Faris is out of the loop with the upcoming Malcolm Lee-helmed fifth installment, which should be a clear indicator she’s not involved as pre-production on this one looks to be well underway.
Perhaps we could help fill Faris in on just what’s happening, as the writing team of Stephen Leff, John Aboud ("The Comebacks") and Michael Colton have cooked up an already outdated and inane-sounding idea for the fifth film. According the official synopsis, director Darren Aronofsky should run for the hills, as it looks as if his “Black Swan" is now in the “Scary Movie” crosshairs. The synopsis (via The Film Stage) reads as follows:
The story in ‘Scary Movie 5’ involves the dance world, with a snooty, aloof, imperious, and oversexed French director of a dance company named Pierre putting on a huge production. Jody, a Caucasian late-20′s mother of two and her late-20′s African American friend Kendra are both vying for the lead in the production. Jody’s extremely controlling former dancer mother is determined that Jody will have the brilliant career that eluded her. The highly skilled mid-30′s Diva veteran dancer with the company, Heather Daltry, gets cut from the production and goes berserk.
Didn’t Jim Carrey already provide the quintessential “Black Swan” parody on “Saturday Night Live” just over 2 years ago? You know, at a time when it was newsworthy and culturally relevant? Though for a series that’s lain dormant for 6 years, and doesn’t seem to have any sort of fan base clamoring for its return, perhaps the dated subject matter is fitting. We’re not saying “Black Swan” doesn’t still have gravitas, but really “Scary Movie"?
“Scary Movie 5” has a release date of January 11, 2012 and perhaps you’ll care as we inch closer to release, but for now, this feels like someone else’s reheated leftovers.
