The Scary Movie franchise is one of the most recognizable comedy series in film history. Starting in 2000, these parody films poked fun at popular horror movies and pop culture moments that everyone recognized.
Over six films, the series made audiences laugh, cringe, and quote lines for years. Ranking them by cultural impact shows just how much each entry shaped comedy movies and influenced what came after.
1. Scary Movie (2000) – The Game Changer
Back in 2000, nobody expected a raunchy horror spoof to gross over $278 million worldwide on just a $19 million budget. The original Scary Movie hit theaters like a wrecking ball, gleefully tearing apart Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer with outrageous, boundary-pushing humor.
Critics gave it a lukewarm 52% on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences absolutely loved it. Some analysts even argue its sly take on feminism in horror cut deeper than Scream itself.
This film single-handedly revived the parody genre and sparked a whole new wave of spoof comedies.
2. Scary Movie 3 (2003) – The Fan Favorite
When director David Zucker, the genius behind Airplane!, took the wheel for the third film, everything changed. Gone was the gross-out shock humor; in came sharp, deadpan slapstick that had audiences howling at parodies of The Ring, Signs, 8 Mile, and The Matrix all at once.
Many fans call this the most quotable entry in the entire series. It earned $220 million worldwide and held the number one box office spot for more than one week.
Leslie Nielsen playing the President was the cherry on top of a brilliantly absurd comedy sundae.
3. Scary Movie 2 (2001) – The Cult Classic
Rushed, messy, and panned by critics with a brutal 13% on Rotten Tomatoes, Scary Movie 2 should have been forgettable. Instead, it carved out a surprisingly devoted cult following among fans who loved its unfiltered, lowbrow humor and wild haunted house parodies of The Exorcist and The Haunting.
The Wayans brothers themselves admitted the film felt rushed, and the $45 million budget showed in the uneven results. Still, it grossed $141 million worldwide.
For fans of the franchise, this one holds a weird, warm place in their comedy-loving hearts.
4. Scary Movie 4 (2006) – The Farewell That Wasn’t
Designed as a grand farewell for Cindy Campbell and Brenda Meeks, Scary Movie 4 arrived with parodies of War of the Worlds, The Grudge, and Saw tucked under its arm. David Zucker returned to direct, keeping the absurdist tone fans had grown to enjoy from the third film.
Anna Faris came back for a reported $1 million paycheck, delivering laughs even as critics handed it a rough 17% on Rotten Tomatoes. It earned a solid $178 million worldwide.
Many fans sensed the franchise starting to lose its sharpest comedic edge right here.
5. Scary Movie (2026) – The Nostalgic Comeback
Nobody saw it coming, but the 2026 entry pulled off something remarkable: a franchise-best opening weekend, grossing $105.5 million globally, including $55 million domestically. The return of Shawn and Marlon Wayans as co-writers and stars, with Keenen Ivory Wayans as executive producer, brought a jolt of fresh energy.
Critics were not exactly impressed, handing it a 25% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences, however, showed up in droves, hungry for the nostalgia and sharp referential humor the Wayans family does best.
It proved parody comedy still has a real, enthusiastic audience waiting for the right film.
6. Scary Movie 5 (2013) – The Low Point
Widely agreed upon as the weakest chapter in the franchise, Scary Movie 5 landed with a thud. Without Anna Faris, Regina Hall, or the Wayans brothers, the film felt like a hollow shell trying to spoof Paranormal Activity, Mama, and Black Swan without the comedic chemistry that made earlier films click.
A memorable opening featuring Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan playing themselves was one of the few moments people actually talked about afterward. It earned just $78 million worldwide.
Even its 4% Rotten Tomatoes score became a kind of legend, earning it a strange “so-bad-its-good” second life.
7. The Franchise as a Whole – Cultural Legacy
Taken together, the Scary Movie series grossed over $600 million across its run, with some estimates pushing past one billion dollars worldwide. Beyond box office numbers, the franchise reshaped how Hollywood thought about parody films, proving that fully committing to comedic satire over simple horror-comedy mixing could be wildly profitable.
Anna Faris deserves enormous credit; her performances across the first four films helped launch her career and gave the series its most consistent comedic anchor.
The franchise also triggered a flood of copycat spoof films, creating a complicated legacy that both elevated and cluttered the genre it helped revive.