Surely we can’t be serious that parody movies — the once-trendy comedy films that seemingly wore out their welcome years ago — are again having a theatrical moment? We are serious, and don’t call us Shirley.
After Mel Brooks’ popular 1970s features like Blazing Saddles, a Western sendup about a Black sheriff that earned three Oscar noms, the subgenre enjoyed a heyday thanks to classics from the team of Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker (Airplane!, The Naked Gun), not to mention such hits as Rob Reiner’s rock mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap and the Mike Myers-led Austin Powers. Although the spoof movie proved capable of box office gold, underscored by the Wayan brothers’ 2000 smash Scary Movie, an oversaturation of titles and general downturn for theatrical comedy led to a drop-off.
But at a time when the world could use a good laugh, the parody film has dusted itself off after a summer of theatrical releases for Paramount reboot The Naked Gun, with Liam Neeson taking over for the late Leslie Nielsen, and Bleecker Street’s Spinal Tap II. Hitting theaters Dec. 4 is Downton Abbey sendup Fackham Hall, also from Bleecker Street, while the summer will bring the release of the revived Scary Movie, with the Wayanses returning to the franchise that they had left long before 2013’s Scary Movie 5 became its lowest-grossing and final entry, with $78 million globally. Also on the theatrical horizon is 2027’s Spaceballs 2, the follow-up to Brooks’ 1987 Star Wars spoof.
“Like everybody in the industry, I certainly feel like there’s a boiling pressure to finally get one out there that works huge, and I think this one’s going to do it,” Miramax CEO Jon Glickman, whose company is behind the new Scary Movie that Paramount will distribute, tells The Hollywood Reporter about the raucous comedy renaissance. The exec points out that Hollywood’s current IP-heavy era forced theatergoers seeking cultural commentary to turn to projects that also deliver big-budget spectacle — think 2024’s top-grossing title, Deadpool & Wolverine. “People tried a couple that didn’t necessarily connect with the audience,” Glickman says of comedy getting pushed off the big screen. “We’ve habituated the audience that something has to be event-ized for them to show up. [But] a lot of comedy is based on discovery [with new stars].”
Although it may have lost its footing with feature audiences, parody-based comedy has remained in the zeitgeist with viral clips from programs like Last Week Tonight, plus shortform offerings from content creators. Jeff Annison, president and co-founder of Legion M, which co-distributes the Damian Lewis-led Fackham Hall, recalls listening to a podcast interview with Naked Gun reboot producer Seth MacFarlane about whether today’s audiences would understand spoof movies. “What Seth pointed out is, ‘People get it — that’s what Family Guy, South Park and Saturday Night Live are,’ ” Annison says. “It’s not that we as people have forgotten how to laugh. It’s just, for whatever reason, [spoof films have] really fallen out of favor in the box office.”
For some creatives, this subdued moment for boundary-pushing comedy is nothing new. “Every 10 years, you get this recession in comedy and feel this void,” says Marlon Wayans, who is writing and starring in the new Scary Movie and is known for other spoof films, including I’m Gonna Git You Sucka and Don’t Be a Menace. Adds Wayans, who emphasizes that the new film will not feel “woke” despite evolving audience sensibilities: “Somebody comes along with this big, crazy hit, and you go, ‘Wow, you can say that?’ I remember when There’s Something About Mary came out, it was like, ‘We’re not just boxing — we’re bare-knuckle fighting.’”
The voices behind this new batch of comedies see their films as a valued escape for audiences during a time of political tensions. “Starting with the Marx brothers and working your way upwards, there’s always insane, anarchic comedies during tough periods in history,” says Glickman, who notes that several of Brooks’ hits offered levity amid the Vietnam War. “People want to be able to laugh together at the same stuff. It’s very meaningful at this moment to have this opportunity.”
Among the last of the theatrical studio spoof releases in theaters before the current revival was 2007’s John C. Reilly-led Walk Hard, which lampoons music biopics and has lived on through social media. Its prescient barbs have been cited in critiques of the recently underperforming Bruce Springsteen biopic, Deliver Me From Nowhere, amid Hollywood’s ongoing glut of fact-based films about legendary singers. “I love spoof movies,” says Judd Apatow, who co-wrote Walk Hard with director Jake Kasdan. “When they work, they are pure joy. They are difficult to make because they need to be wall-to-wall hilarious and have a thousand jokes. But has there been a funnier movie than Airplane? No.”
David Zucker, the Airplane co-director whose noir comedy Star of Malta is in preproduction, wants to see the genre soar: “I just hope that movie comedy and spoof come back. The trouble is, it’s often not done well, so that’s always the challenge.”
This story appeared in the Dec. 3 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
