Over his decades in entertainment, “Scary Movie” creator and star Marlon Wayans has confronted the same prejudices: Hollywood is convinced that international audiences won’t show up for comedies or films starring Black actors.
“We’re trying to erase that old-school stigma,” says Wayans, who returned — along with several of his brothers — to the horror parody franchise after a 25-year absence. So when he was gearing up to promote “Scary Movie,” the sixth installment in the long-running series, Wayans left nothing to chance. “I told the marketing team at Paramount, ‘Fucking put me on a plane. Send me everywhere.’ Because I’m one of those old-school salesmen. Everyone wants to laugh.”
Wayans put his passport to good use, flying to London, Paris and Mexico City ahead of the film’s opening weekend in early June. Paramount didn’t just lean on the charisma of Wayans and his brother Shawn, as well as their co-stars Regina Hall and Anna Faris. The studio hired local comedy writers and script adapters to restructure certain jokes and insert slang and cultural references so the humor in the movie was funny to more than just Americas. Paramount executives also tailored the marketing to specific territories, such as a racy Vegemite-inspired poster in Australia.
