'Scary Movie' Gets Dubbed

Of all the scurrilous one-liners in Scary Movie, this one seemed highly forgettable: A gabby theatergoer — watching a clip of Gwyneth Paltrow’s gender-bending performance in Shakespeare in Love — snaps, ”Brad Pitt’s ex-girlfriend is a real freak. She dressed up like a man.” But at least one person noticed: Harvey Weinstein, cochief of Miramax, the studio behind both films.

EW has learned that just hours after attending the film’s premiere, the indie honcho asked director Keenen Ivory Wayans to change the Paltrow putdown. Wayans agreed, redubbing the line for Scary‘s video, DVD, and foreign editions. The substitute? ”She’s about to get it on with Shake-a-spear; he found out she’s a girl.”

But why would Weinstein, who let Wayans use the clip, suddenly ask for the Scary switch? ”I thought it was a great idea to lampoon ourselves,” says Weinstein. ”But when I finally saw the scene, that line felt inappropriate.” Which sounds like a poetic way of saying he wanted to protect Miramax’s superstar Paltrow, who’s no doubt loath to be defined by her relation to Pitt, her just married ex-beau. ”She’s not surprised that Harvey is making the change,” says Paltrow’s spokesperson, who insists the star didn’t request the redubbing. ”It’s very like him to be protective of her.”