The stars behind beloved besties Cindy Campbell and Brenda Meeks have since reunited, along with Shawn and Marlon Wayans, after 25 years in the sixth installment, “Scary Movie.”

Anna Faris and Regina Hall reveal why they didn’t return for Scary Movie 5: ‘Like Laverne and Shirley’

The stars behind beloved besties Cindy Campbell and Brenda Meeks have since reunited, along with Shawn and Marlon Wayans, after 25 years in the sixth installment, "Scary Movie."

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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June 4, 2026 9:00 a.m. ET

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Anna Faris and Regina Hall in 'Scary Movie' (2026). Credit:

Quantrell Colbert

- Anna Faris and Regina Hall are letting EW in on why they didn't return for 2013's *Scary Movie 5*.

- They've appeared as besties Cindy Campbell and Brenda Meeks in every other film in the parody franchise, including the upcoming *Scary Movie*, which reunites them with Marlon and Shawn Wayans.

- Faris says she wasn't asked back, but "wouldn't have without Regina," while Hall says, "If we both don't do it, it doesn't feel right."

It would not be a *Scary Movie** *movie without Anna Faris and Regina Hall. But actually, once upon a time, it was.

The esteemed actresses behind the lovably daffy besties Cindy Campbell (Faris) and Brenda Meeks (Hall) have anchored every film in the *Scary Movie *franchise but one: 2013's *Scary Movie 5*. It's been 13 years since that sequel, which shed nearly every major player from the original franchise's cast and crew and added fresh blood like Ashley Tisdale and Lindsay Lohan. And it's been 25 years since original costars, co-writers, and co-creators Marlon Wayans and Shawn Wayans were last involved.

Now, the entire parody franchise family is back for a long-awaited sixth installment, simply titled *Scary Movie*. The strange case of *Scary Movie 5 *arose during conversations with both Faris and Hall for **'s* Scary Movie *cover, ahead of the film's June 5 premiere. The actresses offered different reasons for their decisions to keep their 2010s *Scary Movie-*free, but they agreed on one thing: They would never make a *Scary Movie *without each other.

Regina Hall and Anna Faris in 'Scary Movie 3' (2003).

Dimension/courtesy Everett

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Hall reflects that there's no analog elsewhere in her career for the enduring love fans have for Cindy and Brenda's bond.

"I think Cindy and Brenda, for them, are definitely the best. But they're the most unlikely friends. You don't know in what real universe they would be friends," Hall laughs.

Cindy and Brenda have been through hell together over these past 26 years. They've survived a psycho killer, a haunted house, a cursed videotape, an alien invasion, and all manner of untold horrors in the upcoming *Scary Movie*. But it's true that they have a... special bond. One that often finds Brenda hanging Cindy out to dry when the going gets tough.

"Brenda's the worst friend, again, every movie," Hall says. "Like, she will do anything to not help Cindy." But at the same time, "Cindy sees the love in her. That's the thing. And she sees a lot in Cindy. I love that people love their dynamic together, and I think they have a great dynamic because they're such polar opposites. Cindy's so kind and sweet, and Brenda is... she's not that kind and sweet," Hall says with a wicked cackle.

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According to the *One Battle After Another *star, the Cindy-Brenda bond extends offscreen to an implicit pact she and Faris share.

"One of the big things too for us, always, we always felt like if the other is there, we could do it. That's what happened in the *Scary Movie* before this. We both didn't do it. I was like, if we both don't do it, it doesn't feel right to have one without the other. They're like a Laverne and Shirley of their day."

Hall agrees they could also be seen as a Thelma and Louise, but that might not have ended so well for Cindy.

"Look, Cindy would've been in the car alone," she says. "I think at the last minute, Brenda might've jumped out. 'I'm out!'"

Faris recalls that the folks at Dimension Films, the company behind the film series since its inception in 2000, which used to operate as a division of Bob and Harvey Weinstein's Miramax Films, "didn't ask me to do *Scary Movie 5*. I like to think because of money, but I don't know." It also wouldn't have mattered without knowing her costar's feelings, because she "wouldn't have without Regina."

The *House Bunny *star is effusive about Hall, with whom she's shared a fruitful collaborative relationship for nearly three decades.

"I feel like I've always watched her in awe, you know, when acting opposite her. She's inventive. And an inventive actor, in my opinion, is a brilliant actor. But she's always had, I think, a more solid grounding in her sense of self, in her inner peace," Faris says.

It's that peace that brings harmony to Cindy and Brenda's off-kilter on-screen bond, she contends.

Simon Rex and Ashley Tisdale in 'Scary Movie 5'.

Quantrell D.Colbert/TWC

The original *Scary Movie *and *Scary Movie 2 *were directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and written by a team led by his brothers, Marlon and Shawn. The films were released back-to-back in 2000 and 2001, but a lot changed over the two years it took to bring *Scary Movie 3 *to the world.

Mainly, the Wayans had the franchise "taken from us," Marlon told EW, after a series of contentious contract disputes revolving around pay ended in a deadlock. *Scary Movie 3 *and *Scary Movie 4 *moved on without the Wayans, but with Faris and Hall, and adding David Zucker (1980's *Airplane!*) as director and, at the head of the screenwriting team, Craig Mazin, who would later find critical success on TV with *Chernobyl* and *The Last of Us*. *Scary Movie 5 *jettisoned most of that, keeping only Zucker and screenwriter Pat Proft on the writing team and tapping *Scary Movie 3 *stars Simon Rex and Charlie Sheen for new roles.

*Scary Movie 5* was still profitable, grossing $78.4 million on a $20 million budget, but its margins were far eclipsed by all of its predecessors, and the reviews were largely dismissive.

Over the years, Hall has stayed largely mum on the film, but in 2019, Faris shared her piece during an interview on *Watch What Happens Live*: "Truthfully, here's what I think: I don't know, I always joke that I was too old. They wanted to revamp the brand, or whatever."

Finally, after 25 years, Cindy, Brenda, Shorty, and Ray (Marlon and Shawn's characters) are back in the act, with *Scary Movie *now in theaters.

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