Marlon Wayans Feels It’s ‘Necessary’ to Revive 2004 Comedy Movie for Sequel

Marlon Wayans believes that 2021 is the perfect time to make a sequel to White Chicks, the 2004 comedy he made with his brothers Shawn Wayans and Keenan Ivory Wayans. In the film, Marlon and Shawn starred as FBI agents who go undercover as white women to solve a kidnapping. The movie earned mostly negative reviews when it opened, but it was a hit and has become such a cult classic that the subject of a sequel has often come up.

“I think White Chicks 2 is necessary,” Marlon told Variety last week. “I think we’ve tightened up so much that we need to loosen our ties a bit and laugh a little bit.” The Scary Movie star went on to say he believes Hollywood does not “understand” what “juggernaut” White Chicks 2 could be. Marlon and Shawn have plenty of ideas for a sequel, adding that the “world just keeps giving us more… White Chicks 2 is writing itself.”

White Chicks was directed by Keenan and written by Marlon, Shawn, Keenan, Xavier Cook, Andy McElfresh, and Michael Anthony Snowden. The $37 million movie overcame negative reviews to gross $113.1 million worldwide. In 2009, Sony Pictures announced a sequel, but it never came to fruition. In June 2019, Terry Crews, who had a supporting part in White Chicks, told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live that a sequel was in the works. Marlon later wrote on Instagram that Crews was not supposed to do that, and confirmed no deals were in place at the time.

Marlon and Shawn’s inspiration for the white girls their characters pretended to be were Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton. Paris surprisingly told The New York Post she would be interested in appearing in a White Chicks 2 if it ever happened. “I think that imitation is the highest form of flattery,” she said. “I thought the movie was hilarious just seeing them playing inspirations of us. I was just with Marlon last week, and every time I look at him I think of White Chicks. I thought the movie was so genius and hilarious. It was laugh-out-loud funny 2000 humor. I always want to laugh at myself and have fun, so I didn’t mind.”

Marlon’s newest project is Respect, the Aretha Franklin biopic starring Jennifer Hudson as the Queen of Soul. The comedian stars as Ted White, Franklin’s abusive first husband. He told Variety he got goosebumps every time he saw Hudson perform on set. “She worked 10 times harder than everybody on that set,” he said of the Dreamgirls star.

Respect is now in theaters and was directed by Liesl Tommy. After reading the script, Marlon insisted on flying to Atlanta to meet Tommy, who made her feature film directing debut with the movie. “…Then as soon as I walked into the production office and I saw all the research that Liesl had done from the costumes to the hair to the makeup to the set designs, I was walking through Liesl Tommy’s head. I was like, ‘Alright, I’m in,’” Marlon recalled.