'Paranormal Activity' Producer Open to Rebooting the Franchise

The Paranormal Activity franchise was, at one point, as regular a staple of October as Halloween, [...]

The Paranormal Activity franchise was, at one point, as regular a staple of October as Halloween, regularly releasing a "found footage" style film about a series of hauntings. Now that the series has fallen into a lull, producer Jason Blum said he's open to the idea of the series getting a reboot.

In the interview above celebrating the release of Blumhouse's latest horror film, Happy Death Day, Blum was asked about the status of the popular franchise.

"Paranormal Activity is on hiatus, but if [Happy Death Day director] Chris [Landon] over here, who has done four Paranormal Activity movies, if he has an idea to reboot, we're very open to hearing it," the producer shared.

Landon then made an inquisitive look, which could either mean he wanted to deflect the question or perhaps the filmmaker already knows of plans to make another film.

The original Paranormal Activity hit theaters in 2009 and went on to become one of the most profitable films of all time, ousting The Blair Witch Project from the top spot. Having cost roughly $11,000, it went on to earn almost $200 million worldwide.

The story of a house targeted by evil spirits combined with the lo-fi filmmaking style allowed for multiple sequels to be churned out very quickly. Sequels to the film were released on a weekend in October in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

While the series was doing well financially, the quality of the films were called into question, with even devout horror fans beginning to tire of the formula.

Following Paranormal Activity 4 in 2012, the spinoff film Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones didn't hit theaters until January of 2014. It wouldn't be until October of the next year that the fourth sequel to the original film, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, would be released, which was another financial and critical disappointment.

This fall sees the release of another October horror movie staple, the Saw franchise, returning to theaters after a seven-year absence.

Whether we have to wait seven years for a new Paranormal Activity sequel or a reboot eventually manifests, only time will tell.

0comments