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Scary Movie 3

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Scary Movie 3
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDavid Zucker
Written by
Based onCharacters
by Shawn Wayans
Marlon Wayans
Buddy Johnson
Phil Beauman
Jason Friedberg
Aaron Seltzer
Produced byRobert K. Weiss
Starring
CinematographyMark Irwin
Edited byJon Poll
Music byJames L. Venable
Production
company
Brad Grey Pictures[1]
Distributed byDimension Films[1]
Release dates
  • October 20, 2003 (2003-10-20) (Los Angeles)
  • October 24, 2003 (2003-10-24) (United States)
Running time
84 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States[1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$45-48 million[3][4]
Box office$220.7 million[4]

Scary Movie 3 is a 2003 American parody film directed by David Zucker and written by Craig Mazin and Pat Proft. Produced by Robert K. Weiss and Craig Mazin under Dimension Films, it is the third installment in the Scary Movie franchise and serves as a sequel to Scary Movie 2 (2001). The film stars Anna Faris and Regina Hall reprising their roles as Cindy Campbell and Brenda Meeks, alongside new cast members Charlie Sheen, Simon Rex, Anthony Anderson, Kevin Hart, Queen Latifah, and Leslie Nielsen. It is the first film in the series without the involvement of the Wayans family.

Set primarily in Washington, the plot parodies several popular films of the time, including The Ring (2002), Signs (2002), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), and 8 Mile (2002), blending elements of horror, science fiction, and mystery genres.

Principal photography took place across various locations in California, with cinematography by Mark Irwin. The film's soundtrack, composed by James L. Venable, incorporated both original scoring and parody elements to complement the film's satirical tone.

Scary Movie 3 was released theatrically in the United States on October 24, 2003, by Dimension Films. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its humor and performances but criticized its reliance on slapstick and disconnected narrative. The film emerged as a major commercial success, grossing approximately $220.7 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing entry in the franchise.

At the 2004 Teen Choice Awards, Scary Movie 3 won the award for Choice Movie: Your Parents Didn't Want You to See. A sequel, Scary Movie 4, was released in 2006.

Plot

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Two high school girls discuss a cursed videotape that allegedly causes the death of anyone who watches it within seven days. After both girls watch the tape, an unseen entity kills them. On a farm outside Washington, D.C., widowed pastor Tom Logan and his brother George discover crop circles in their cornfield, with Tom’s daughter Sue screaming in the center.

Cindy Campbell, a local reporter, covers the crop circle phenomenon but receives little attention. She cares for her young nephew, Cody, who displays precognitive abilities. While picking Cody up from school, Cindy meets George, who invites her and her friend Brenda Meeks to a rap battle. At the event, George impresses the crowd by defeating Fat Joe but is expelled after mistakenly wearing a white hood and greeting the audience.

Brenda later informs Cindy that she has watched the cursed videotape and asks Cindy to stay with her. After a series of pranks, Brenda is killed by the tape’s entity, Tabitha. George, Mahalik, and CJ learn of Brenda’s death. Meanwhile, Tom meets Sayaman, who accidentally caused his wife’s death in a car accident.

During Brenda’s wake, George and Mahalik disrupt the ceremony, attempting to revive her. Cindy discovers the cursed tape among Brenda’s belongings, watches it, and receives a call warning her of her death in seven days. Seeking help, she contacts George, Mahalik, and CJ. CJ refers her to his Aunt Shaneequa, who identifies a hidden image of a lighthouse within the tape, suggesting it holds the key to breaking the curse. While Cindy is away, Cody watches the tape, putting him at risk.

In a further attempt to warn the public, Cindy tries to broadcast a warning through her news station, but the message is distorted by her boss. Concurrently, Tom and his family encounter an alien disguised as Michael Jackson, while President Baxter Harris arrives to investigate the crop circles.

Cindy visits the lighthouse and meets the Architect, who explains that Tabitha was his adopted daughter, a malevolent spirit who was drowned by his wife in a nearby well. Before her death, Tabitha transferred her evil essence into a VHS tape, which the Architect mistakenly returned to Blockbuster, releasing the curse.

Returning home, Cindy finds Cody missing and learns that the tape has been aired on live television, exposing a wide audience. She traces Cody to the Logan farm, where he has taken shelter. As chaos unfolds with global alien sightings, Tom instructs Cindy, Sue, and Cody to hide in the basement while he, George, Mahalik, President Harris, and the Secret Service confront the aliens. The extraterrestrials reveal they are peaceful and intercepted the cursed tape, mistakenly believing it to be the film Pootie Tang, and have come to Earth to stop Tabitha.

In the basement, Cindy identifies the well from the tape. Tabitha emerges and captures Cody. Cindy and George attempt to reason with her, offering her a place in their family. Though Tabitha initially appears to accept, she attacks. President Harris inadvertently opens the basement door, knocking her into the well, ending her threat.

Following the incident, Cindy and George marry. As they depart for their honeymoon, they realize they have left Cody behind. Cindy narrowly avoids hitting him at an intersection, only for another vehicle to strike him.

Cast

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Rapper cameos

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As well as in "The Rap Battle", several actual rappers assist in the confrontation with the aliens and a subsequent shootout amongst themselves.

Production

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On November 22, 2002, Dimension Films announced the development of a third Scary Movie installment without the involvement of the Wayans brothers, who had directed and co-written the previous films.[6] David Zucker was brought on as director. Initially titled Scary Movie 3: Episode I – Lord of the Brooms, the project was intended to parody the Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter franchises.[6]

In December 2002, Kevin Smith signed on as executive producer and co-writer but later withdrew from the project.[7] Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, who had contributed to an early draft of the original Scary Movie (2000), were initially assigned to write the script.[7] Although Zucker considered using their draft, he ultimately opted for a new screenplay by Craig Mazin and Pat Proft that aligned more closely with the tone of the earlier films.[8]

Principal photography began on March 12, 2003, and concluded on July 16, 2003. Filming locations included British Columbia, Canada, and Washington, D.C.[9]

Music

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The score for Scary Movie 3 was composed by James L. Venable. The film’s original soundtrack, featuring a blend of hip hop and contemporary music, was released on October 24, 2003. It includes contributions from artists such as Buku Wise, Delinquent Habits, Dame Lee, and Kebyar.[10] Frank Fitzpatrick served as the music supervisor, while Jorge Corante produced and co-wrote the majority of the original songs featured in the film.[11]

Reception

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Box office

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Scary Movie 3 opened at number one at the North American box office, grossing $48.1 million during its opening weekend and $57.5 million during its first week.[4] The film earned $24.7 million in its second weekend and ultimately grossed $110 million domestically.[12] Internationally, it grossed an additional $110.7 million, bringing its worldwide total to approximately $220.7 million.1 The film became the second-highest-grossing entry in the Scary Movie franchise.[4]

Critical response

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On Rotten Tomatoes, Scary Movie 3 holds an approval rating of 35% based on 129 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The site's consensus reads: "Though an improvement over the second Scary Movie, the laughs are still inconsistent."[13] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 49 out of 100 based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[14] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[15]

Critics generally viewed the film as an improvement over its predecessor but criticized its uneven humor. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film two and a half stars out of four, noting that "it has more laughs and fewer disgusting moments" compared to the earlier entries.[8] Empire wrote that the film "manages some good laughs" but criticized it for relying heavily on easy targets and repetitive slapstick.[7]

Common Sense Media noted that while the film was "less vulgar" than the previous installments, it still contained crude humor and was best suited for older teens and adults.[6] IGN observed that the film delivered "a handful of hilarious scenes," but ultimately described it as "hit and miss."[10]

The BBC review praised Anna Faris’ performance but concluded that the film "feels like a series of skits rather than a coherent movie."[9] The Guardian criticized the film’s "scattergun approach" to parody, suggesting it lacked the sharper satire found in more effective spoof comedies.[11]

Home media

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Alternate scenes

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The DVD edition of Scary Movie 3 includes an audio commentary by director David Zucker, several deleted scenes, and alternate endings with optional commentary. A special edition, titled Scary Movie 3.5, was also released, featuring an unrated version of the film and additional deleted scenes not included in the original DVD release.

One alternate ending features Cindy being informed by her psychiatrist, played by William Forsythe, that Cody does not exist. After a series of slapstick incidents, Cindy gathers all unreal characters in one place, revealing Cody and Santa Claus among them. The aliens then invade, but George transforms into the Hulk to stop them, while President Harris unsuccessfully attempts the same transformation. Cindy confronts Tabitha at the Logan House, is teleported to Aunt Shaneequa for training, and returns to defeat multiple manifestations of Tabitha using martial arts moves parodying The Matrix. The cast then leaves in a car driven by M. Night Shyamalan.

Scary Movie 3.5 also contains extended scenes, including one where Pamela Anderson and Jenny McCarthy's characters joke about a "shaved pussy," revealed to be a furless kitten. Another extended scene identifies the driver who hits Cody at the end of the film as Michael Jackson.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Scary Movie 3". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
  2. ^ "Scary Movie 3 (15)". British Board of Film Classification. November 14, 2003. Archived from the original on November 10, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
  3. ^ "Scary Movie 3 (2003) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
  4. ^ a b c d "Scary Movie 3 (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on June 24, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
  5. ^ @voiceoverprince (April 7, 2022). "In 2003, Tom Kenny and I recorded these adorable aliens everyone remembers from #scarymovie3 We were never billed,…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ a b c November 22, Gary Susman Updated; EST, 2002 at 05:00 AM. "Dimension greenlights Wayans-free Scary Movie 3". EW.com. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ a b c "Kevin Smith signs on for 'Scary 3'". December 5, 2002. Archived from the original on July 13, 2003.
  8. ^ a b The Epic Disastrous Unmade Works and Spoofs of Seltzer and Friedberg and their History - Groovy Jake, July 20, 2022, retrieved December 15, 2022
  9. ^ a b Scary Movie 3 (2003) - IMDb, archived from the original on December 15, 2022, retrieved December 15, 2022
  10. ^ a b "Various Artists, James L. Venable: Scary Movie 3: Music". Amazon. Archived from the original on October 11, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  11. ^ a b "Frank Fitzpatrick". IMDb. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  12. ^ "Scary Movie 3: Weekly gross". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on October 10, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  13. ^ "Scary Movie 3". Rotten Tomatoes. October 24, 2003. Archived from the original on November 20, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  14. ^ "Scary Movie 3 at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
  15. ^ "SCARY MOVIE 3 (2003) B". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
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