Here's a frightening thought: Paramount Pictures is toying with the idea of making a sequel to the surprise low-budget hit 'Paranormal Activity.' The film, made on a shoestring budget of $15,000 and filmed in the director's house in San Diego, rolled out slowly in late September and has earned more than $62.5 million so far; this weekend it stood at No. 1 at the box office, beating out the film favored to land on top, 'Saw VI.'The story line is simple: A young couple (Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston) become increasingly disturbed by a possible demonic presence in their new home and set up a video camera in their bedroom to record the events. We become constant voyeurs to the resulting activities and paranormal events; unlike a glossy computer-designed special effects studio film that makes us suspend our disbelief, this video production with unknown actors (people like you and me) shocks us into belief -- "these events really did happen."
And it's precisely this shock of recognition (that this could have happened to us) that could doom a sequel. Remember 'The Blair Witch Project,' another low-budget, hand-held-camera pseudo-documentary shocker that took the big screen by storm? By the time a sequel came out, everyone knew the film's backstory and production information and were comfortable with the concept; There was no longer a "fear of the unknown" and the sequel foundered.
But according to The Los Angeles Times Paramount chairman Brad Grey said last week that "We have the rights on a worldwide basis to do 'Paranormal 2' and we're looking to see if that makes some sense." We understand Grey's desire to cash in on a sequel; foreign revenue (which Paramount doesn't have on 'Paranormal') sometimes can make or break a film; even 'Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2' made a modest profit.
But modest is not what the studios are looking for, and we don't think that a 'Paranormal' sequel would very well serve Paramount or fans. In fact, the only bump in the night you're likely to hear from a sequel might be executive heads rolling at Paramount.
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the next 'Blair Witch Project'?
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Reader Comments (3)
lisa at 1:28AM on Oct 27th 2009
hell no
paul at 7:18AM on Oct 27th 2009
This movie was a HUGE waste of my money and time! It was a RIP OFF!! Doing a sequel? Ridiculous! After all the hype surrouunding this movie, and the HUGE let down after seeing it, It will more than likely be YEARS before I step into a movie theater again!
Angelique at 11:57PM on Nov 7th 2009
I agree. The only thing scary about that movie was the level of disappointment.