Jordan Peele was personally asked to appear in the new Scary Movie, and turned it down flat.
The Get Out director was approached by Marlon Wayans after the pair worked together on Peele’s horror film Him last year.
When Wayans told Peele that Scary Movie 6 would be spoofing Get Out, the reaction was encouraging.
When Wayans then pushed his luck and asked if Peele wanted to be in it, the answer was considerably less enthusiastic.
“‘Oh, cool.’ I was like, ‘You want to be in it?’ He said, ‘Nah.’ I was like, ‘Alright, not that cool,'” Wayans recalled with a laugh at the film’s Los Angeles premiere on Wednesday.
The exchange is one of several colourful stories to emerge from the premiere of Scary Movie 6, which hits cinemas on Friday and marks the long-awaited return of Marlon and Shawn Wayans to the franchise they created.
The brothers, who wrote and starred in the original 2000 film and its 2001 sequel, were effectively pushed out by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, who continued the series without them from the third instalment onwards.
They are back for the sixth film as writers, producers and stars, alongside returning cast members Anna Faris and Regina Hall.
Marlon Wayans was candid about the general policy on asking permission before spoofing a filmmaker’s work.
“You don’t ask for permission, you just kind of do it and hope they enjoy it, and if not they’ll never cast you in one of their movies, and that’s OK,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
He acknowledged the Peele situation was a special case given their existing working relationship, and framed the mockery as a form of respect.
“They know that for us, mockery is the greatest form of flattery. The fact that we can do that and make the world smile with the stuff that they did, I’m grateful that they keep making great art.”
The film takes aim at some of the most talked-about horror releases in recent years, including Sinners, Scream, Get Out, Weapons and Longlegs.
