The next chapter in the Paranormal Activity legacy is gaining momentum, as director Ian Tuason has been tapped to helm the upcoming next installment. Earlier this month, Blumhouse confirmed that James Wan, who directed movies like Insidious and The Conjuring, came on board the next project to serve as a producer. After making a number of shorts, Tuason made his feature-film debut earlier this year with Undertone, which premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival. The movie was purchased by A24 and will be playing at the Sundance Film Festival next month.
The Hollywood Reporter revealed news about the project, who claim that this next chapter will be a “rebirth” for the franchise. The original movie premiered in 2007 and earned screenings at a handful of film festivals before being acquired by Paramount, with early plans being to remake the low-budget experience with a higher production value. After some re-edits, cuts, and additional scenes filmed, Paranormal Activity landed in theaters in 2009, delivering the tale of a couple who began documenting strange experiences unfolding in their house.
Over the course of six theatrically released films and the most recent seventh installment, Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin, which debuted on Paramount+, audiences have seen the series expand from humble hauntings to include demons, cults, witches, and other dimensions. Given the complex nature of the series’ mythology, a potential “rebirth” that brings the series back to basics could be exactly what the franchise needs.
Paranormal Activity is far from being the first “found footage” movie, with Cannibal Holocaust often being cited as the horror movie to establish the format. Movies like 1989’s The McPherson Tape and 1998’s The Last Broadcast borrowed a page from Cannibal Holocaust, but it was 1999’s The Blair Witch Project and its viral marketing campaign, at a time when most people didn’t know what a “viral marketing campaign” was, both intrigued and frightened audiences. Blair Witch became one of the most talked-about horror movies of the year and inspired some imitators.
Paranormal Activity, though, and its depiction of home haunts and a much more stripped-down storyline is what really changed the game of the found-footage format. Indie filmmakers realized that all you really needed to tell a found-footage ghost story were some digital cameras, amateur actors, and potentially some practical or CG effects to create scares. Between the low-budget look of Paranormal Activity and the narrative and logistical constraints, countless imitators began to pop up in the horror world.
What really set Paranormal Activity apart from Blair Witch when it came to inspiring imitators is that the distribution model of indie horror changed dramatically in the ten years between releases. By the late 2000s, releasing movies straight to DVD was much cheaper and more feasible than indie films earlier in the decade, in addition to VOD emerging in the early 2010s and a rental option, eventually leading to full-blown streaming services.
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