Scary Movie 6 Shatters Franchise Records — Here’s How Every Entry Ranks From Best to Worst

Twenty-six years after the original Scary Movie took a sledgehammer to the slasher genre, the franchise is back — and it’s making more money than ever. Scary Movie 6 opened to a franchise-record $55 million domestically and $105 million worldwide, proving that audiences still have an appetite for well-timed parody, even in an era when the horror genre itself has become self-aware.

The Wayans brothers are back behind the camera and in front of it, and the result is the most commercially successful installment since the original. But how does it actually stack up against the rest of the series? We went through every Scary Movie film to rank them from worst to best — and the 2026 comeback lands higher than you might expect.

The Ranking: Every Scary Movie, Ranked

6. Scary Movie 5 (2013)

The franchise hit rock bottom with this fifth installment. Without the Wayans brothers, without Anna Faris, and without much of a plan, Scary Movie 5 replaced the core cast with Ashley Tisdale and tried to parody Paranormal Activity and Evil Dead with all the precision of a sledgehammer hitting a piñata. The jokes landed with a thud, the pop culture references aged like milk, and the $78 million worldwide gross — the lowest in the franchise — told the story. It felt like a straight-to-DVD release that accidentally wandered into theaters. If you skipped this one, congratulations: you made the right call.

5. Scary Movie 4 (2006)

By the fourth outing, the franchise had fully transitioned from the Wayans’ edgy slapstick to the Zucker Brothers’ absurdist style. Scary Movie 4 parodied The Grudge and War of the Worlds, and while it had its moments — the opening sequence with Craig Bierko is genuinely funny — it also felt like the franchise was running on autopilot. Anna Faris and Regina Hall still had chemistry, but the supporting cast was forgettable and the jokes were increasingly reliant on “remember this movie?” rather than actual comedy. Still, $178 million worldwide kept the lights on.

4. Scary Movie 5 (2013) — Wait, We Already Did That

Let’s skip ahead to the more interesting entries.

4. Scary Movie 3 (2003)

The pivot point. When the Wayans brothers departed after Scary Movie 2, the Zucker Brothers took over and steered the franchise in a completely different direction. Scary Movie 3 parodied The Ring and Signs, and while it lost the urban comedy edge of the originals, it gained a weird, absurdist energy that worked on its own terms. Charlie Sheen’s alien encounter scene is still one of the funniest bits in the entire franchise, and the $220 million worldwide haul proved audiences were willing to follow the series into new territory. It’s the most polarizing entry — fans of the originals hate it, but it has its own cult following.

3. Scary Movie 6 (2026)

The comeback nobody asked for but everybody needed. The Wayans brothers returned alongside Anna Faris and Regina Hall, and the result is a film that understands exactly what made the original work: it’s not just parodying horror movies, it’s parodying the culture of horror movies. The Backrooms sequence is genuinely unsettling before it becomes hilarious, and the Wayans’ willingness to make fun of themselves — Marlon Wayans has been vocal about the franchise’s legacy — adds a layer of self-awareness that elevates the material. At $105 million and counting worldwide on a $30 million budget, it’s also the most profitable entry in the franchise’s history. Critics may not love it, but audiences are showing up in droves.

2. Scary Movie 2 (2001)

The most underrated entry. The Wayans brothers doubled down on everything that made the original work — the self-referential humor, the escalating absurdity, the willingness to go completely off the rails — and added Chris Elliott’s unforgettable performance as the haunted house butler. The Exorcist parody sequence remains one of the franchise’s all-time best moments, and the film’s willingness to push boundaries (the “I feel funny” scene with Shorty is still talked about) gave it an edge that the later installments lacked. $141 million worldwide on a $45 million budget was solid, if not spectacular.

1. Scary Movie (2000)

The original. The one that started it all. Keenen Ivory Wayans directed, Marlon and Shawn Wayans co-wrote and starred, and the result was a film that perfectly captured the turn-of-the-millennium zeitgeist. It parodied Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Matrix, and a dozen other films with a gleeful energy that felt genuinely fresh. The opening sequence — a word-for-word recreation of Scream‘s opening with a hilarious twist — set the tone for everything that followed. Anna Faris became a star, the Wayans cemented their comedy legacy, and $278 million worldwide on a $19 million budget made it one of the most profitable comedies of the 2000s. It’s not just the best Scary Movie — it’s one of the best parody films ever made.

Why Scary Movie 6 Works When Other Reboots Don’t

The key to Scary Movie 6‘s success isn’t nostalgia — it’s timing. The franchise returned at a moment when horror is experiencing a cultural renaissance. Films like Scream 7 have proven that audiences are hungry for self-referential horror, and the Wayans brothers wisely leaned into that energy rather than trying to recreate the exact formula of the 2000 original.

There’s also the simple pleasure of seeing the original cast together again. Anna Faris hasn’t lost a step as Cindy Campbell, and Regina Hall’s Brenda Meeks remains one of the franchise’s most iconic characters. When the core four are on screen together, the film crackles with the kind of genuine chemistry that can’t be manufactured.

The Box Office Story

Here’s the complete franchise box office breakdown:

• Scary Movie (2000): $278 million worldwide — the gold standard
• Scary Movie 2 (2001): $141 million worldwide
• Scary Movie 3 (2003): $220 million worldwide — the Wayans-less pivot
• Scary Movie 4 (2006): $178 million worldwide
• Scary Movie 5 (2013): $78 million worldwide — the franchise low
• Scary Movie 6 (2026): $105 million+ worldwide (and counting)

The franchise has now grossed over $1 billion combined — a remarkable achievement for a series that most people assumed was dead after 2013. Whether Scary Movie 7 (which Marlon Wayans has already confirmed is in development) can sustain this momentum remains to be seen, but for now, the franchise is very much alive.

The Verdict

Scary Movie 6 isn’t a masterpiece. Critics have been predictably harsh, and the film’s reliance on pop culture references means some jokes will age faster than others. But it’s exactly what it needs to be: a funny, self-aware, genuinely entertaining comedy that understands its audience and delivers on its promise. In a summer dominated by massive blockbusters, there’s something refreshing about a $30 million comedy that’s outperforming films with five times its budget.

The Wayans brothers came back, and they reminded everyone why the Scary Movie franchise mattered in the first place. Sometimes the best sequels aren’t the ones that reinvent the wheel — they’re the ones that remember why the wheel was worth building.

What’s your favorite Scary Movie entry? Drop your ranking in the comments — we know the debates are going to be heated.