Marlon Wayans broke his silence on how the Scary Movie franchise was allegedly stolen by the Weinstein brothers.
In an interview with Variety, Wayans said that he and his brothers were pushed out of the franchise by Harvey and Bob Weinstein after they demanded a raise for a third film following the massive success of the first two movies.
Following the second film’s success, Wayans said Weinstein “ousted him and his brothers and made the third film without their knowledge.”
“They absolutely did [us wrong]. Absolutely,” Wayans said, adding, “We could’ve sued, and we probably would’ve won.”
“We didn’t even know,” Wayans continued. “And we got an announcement on New Year’s Eve that they were doing Scary Movie 3. The franchise was stripped from us. And we were just asking for our fair share.”
“What they did is between them and God,” he added. “I don’t applaud that type of behavior, but I can’t hold hate and hurt in my heart if I want to evolve.”
A part of Weinstein-owned Miramax, the first film grossed $278 million on a $19 million budget. The second film grossed $141 million on a $45 million budget.
Following a low offer, Marlon claims that the Weinsteins then stole the brothers’ idea for the next film without their knowledge. Then, they were forced out of the film.
THE NEW FILM IS A ‘FULL CIRCLE’ MOMENT FOR THE WAYANS
With Wayans family now back for the latest installment of the franchise, it fulfills a promise made by the family’s patriarch. Howell. Wayans expressed that he wanted his sons to work together again.
“When Jon [current Miramax CEO Jonathan Glickman] hit me up to do ‘Scary Movie,’ I was like, ‘I can’t do this without my brothers,’ so I got Shawn and Keenen on board,” Wayans said. “This is a return back to the franchise we all created, so forget all the bad years! This isn’t ‘Scary Movie 6′; this is a reboot.”
Scary Movie hits theaters on June 5.