Spoilers! How 'Scary Movie' pulled off that surprise opening cameo

Brendan Morrow, USA TODAYSat, June 6, 2026 at 12:30 PM UTC

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Spoilers! We're diving into details about the biggest surprises and cameos in "Scary Movie" (in theaters now), so turn away if you haven't seen itand don't want to know.

Who needs the Oscars, anyway?

The new horror spoof "Scary Movie" manages to reference some shockingly recent events in its opening scene: Teyana Taylor shows up and pokes fun at the fact that she lost best supporting actress at the Oscars this year.

Writer and star Marlon Wayans tells USA TODAY the sequence was filmed just one week after the Academy Awards, which took place March 15. Many other versions of the opening were considered, but Wayans came up with the idea of centering on the "One Battle After Another" star while she was making the rounds during awards season.

"We tailor-made the scene to fit her and her personality, and what it would be like for a New York girl to be in this position, and it just worked," he says. "It starts the movie in the biggest way with what is our queen right now."

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The scene is a parody of the opening of "Scream VI" and similarly follows a woman on a date in New York City being lured outside by Ghostface.

But in the "Scary Movie" version, Taylor, playing herself, isn't intimidated and won't have any of the killer's nonsense: She calls in backup and faces him head-on. At one point, Ghostface mockingly tells the actress that she may have beaten him, but she didn't win the Oscar, to which she retorts that she won the Golden Globe and knocks him out with that award.

Taylor did, in fact, lose the Oscar to Amy Madigan ("Weapons") after winning a Golden Globe for her performance in January. But in case you were wondering, no, Taylor's actual Golden Globe wasn't used in the scene.

"If it was the real one, I would have stolen it," Wayans quips.

The ending of "Scary Movie" wildly subverts the "Scream" franchise, as Anna Faris and Regina Hall's characters (at left) hilariously refuse to pass the torch to new leads.Marlon Wayans reveals hilarious inspiration behind 'KPop Demon Hunters' parody in 'Scary Movie 6'

The opening was one of several gags in the movie added after the initial shoot. The wild "KPop Demon Hunters" parody was also a later addition, which Wayans decided upon after watching Netflix's hit musical with his daughter.

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The spoof was also inspired by the actor getting into hot water with the anime community last year.

After his movie "Him" lost at the box office in its opening weekend to "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle," Wayans jokingly slammed anime, drawing anger from the genre's dedicated fans. So with "Scary Movie," he decided to double down with the outrageous "KPop Demon Hunters" parody, turning the hit song "Golden" into an R-rated tune about getting high.

"All these anime guys were so mad at me," Wayans says, adding that he thought to himself during the backlash, "This is the best thing that ever happened to me! What if we do a really funny 'KPop Demon Hunters' set piece? We wrote this song, and it was really funny and crazy, and my daughter loved it."

'Scary Movie 6' Ghostface reveal gets meta about the movie series' history

The ending of "Scary Movie" subverts the source material it's parodying in what may be one of the most meta sequences in film history.

Initially, Jack (Cameron Scott Roberts) and Elle (Ruby Snowber) are revealed as the Ghostface killers, which is roughly similar to how 2022's "Scream" ended. But then "Scary Movie" veers off in another direction by having two different, unrelated Ghostfaces come in to kill them: Anthony Anderson and Shaquille O'Neal, who starred in the later "Scary Movie" sequels. Playing themselves, their motive is that they're angry they weren't cast in the new "Scary Movie" − as in, the very film we're watching.

But it gets even more out there: Shorty (Marlon Wayans) and Ray (Shawn Wayans) are also revealed as Ghostface killers, and they kill Anderson and O'Neal for agreeing to star in the "Scary Movie" sequels that were made without the Wayans. Off camera, the Wayans family didn't return to make "Scary Movie 3," "Scary Movie 4" or "Scary Movie 5" after a pay dispute with the studio.

'Scary Movie 6' wild ending is the Wayans' message to parents

Because "Scary Movie" is a parody of 2022's "Scream," much of it is built around the idea that Sara (Olivia Rose Keegan) and Tuesday (Savannah Lee Nassif) are the series' new lead characters, modeled after Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara (Jenna Ortega) from "Scream."

But "Scary Movie" goes another way in a meta rejection of the idea of reboots passing the torch to new, younger characters. Cindy (Anna Faris), Brenda (Regina Hall), Shorty and Ray decide to tie up Sara and Tuesday and burn down the house, leaving them to die. The sisters complain that they were supposed to take over "Scary Movie," but our original four characters defiantly proclaim this is their franchise.

In a meta twist, the ending of "Scary Movie" defiantly proclaims that Anna Faris and Regina Hall are still the leads of the franchise.

Wayans says this final punchline was intentionally at odds with the way the rest of the movie blends the two different generations.

"The theme of the movie, it's kind of like us against them," Wayans says. "It's our generation vs. the new generation, and it's kind of the smashing the two of them together, to really have that conversation that our generation needs to have with our kids, about what our humor was, and introducing them to our humor, but still being inclusive and putting them under the umbrella."

Ultimately, though, the last beat of the movie is intended "to say to the parents who took their teens to see this movie, at the end of the day, we love y'all, but f--- these kids! You've gotta be you."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Scary Movie 6' – Marlon Wayans talks Teyana Taylor cameo, ending

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