Marlon Wayans: I'm trying to bring back laughter

Marlon Wayans is on a mission to "bring back laughter" with Scary Movie 6.

The 53-year-old actor is returning to the horror spoof franchise that he co-created with brothers Shawn and Keenen Ivory Wayans more than 25 years ago, and Marlon has made clear that the new film is about restoring comedy to its former glory.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Marlon said: "What we're trying to do is bring back laughter. This is about bringing back comedy the way it used to be. And I think the only way to do it is you have to cancel the cancel culture."

Marlon has described the film — which will be released later this year — as not just a reboot, but a "rebooquel", picking up 26 years after the original Scary Movie.

The comedy star explained: "This movie is multi-generational. It's a conversation comedically that is needed, that needs to be had from our generation down to Gen Alpha. And it's all inclusive."

The film reunites the original cast, with Anna Faris and Regina Hall returning as Cindy and Brenda alongside Marlon and Shawn, and the actor insists the Wayans brothers have a comedic formula that nobody else can replicate.

He said: "We're gonna do what we always do. We're gonna make fun of everybody because we're equal opportunity offenders. We have a recipe, we have a formula that you can't mimic or copy. You could try, but it's very specific. It's how we grew up, and it's how we see the world. It's the household we were raised in with the sense of humour that we all were governed with, that we inherited from our mother."

Marlon added that the goal throughout filming was simply to keep everyone laughing.

He shared: "We like to be fearless. Yet still do things with kid gloves to let people laugh at themselves. We laughed all the way through. We let everyone have fun, we let them improvise, and you're gonna see it all over this movie."

Marlon cited three reasons for returning to the franchise after a 25-year absence — the collapse of the Weinstein regime, encouragement from his father Howell Stouten Wayans, and a sense of divine purpose.

The actor said: "I got me and my brothers together to come back to a franchise that we were removed from. 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."