The "evil" Weinstein Company still owes Scary Movie's writers' money twenty years after the film's release. The top-rated horror spoof-comedy franchise was by far the most profitable of director Keenan Ivory Wayans' career.
Though Wayans, as well as his brothers Shawn and Marlon, were only on board for two of the five films, the three comedians were responsible for developing the entire franchise. Initially, the Wayans had a difficult time getting a studio to back the first Scary Movie film. But, after being turned down by every studio in Hollywood, The Weinstein Company – founded by brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein - decided to take a chance on the low budget comedy. The risk paid off, but with the success of Scary Movie came unforeseen issues: the Wayans indirectly discovered that the Weinsteins were going with new writers and a new director for Scary Movie 3, effectively ending the partnership. Some might say this was a blessing of sorts, as The Weinstein Company eventually declared bankruptcy in light of Harvey's sexual assault scandal.
Now on the 20th anniversary of the original movie's release, Marlon Wayans has spoken to Variety. The 47-year-old comedian revealed that not only did he and his brothers learn that they had been dropped from the Scary Movie franchise by reading it on Christmas Eve, but that the defunct Weinstein Company still owes them a lot of money. And although The Weinstein Company was responsible for numerous hit films during its existence, Wayans shed some light on just what it was like to work for a production company that he describes as "evil."
“[The Weinstein’s are] not the best or the kindest people to be in business with. They’re very much an evil regime, I guess. They do what they want to do how they do it — and it can be rude and quite disrespectful. We couldn’t come to terms on the deal. It’s like, ‘If you don’t want to pay for the jokes, have somebody else do it.'”
The first Scary Movie capitalized on the success of teen slasher films such as Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer – both of which were released by The Weinstein Company. It kick-started the career of Anna Faris and gave the Wayans brothers a high profile box office success. Today, however, the Weinstein name is not one that anyone in Hollywood wants to be associated with. Earlier this year, Harvey was found guilty of rape. He is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence for his crimes and, as previously mentioned, The Weinstein Company is officially bankrupt, it's highly unlikely the Wayans' will ever see any of the money they say is owed from Scary Movie.
Of course, given the history of the Weinsteins, many would not be the least bit surprised to discover they ran a rather unscrupulous production company. It is a shame the Wayans' were dropped from a project they had personally built from the ground up. However, in light of what became of Harvey Weinstein and the company he co-founded, the Wayans' will have to accept they simply lost money on the Scary Movie franchise.
Source: Variety
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