Because the Paranormal Activity movies are defined by their structure rather than by a visible monster or recurring lead characters or surroundings, it's the filmmaking that ends up having to evolve and change to set each new installment apart rather than, say, the mythology. You're got the limited location, the slow burn, the surveillance gear, the demonic hijinks — it's what's done with these elements that distinguishes one film from the next, a fact that makes the franchise interesting technically even if its versions of things that go bump in the night don't do much for you.
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Besides Paramount, I guess: "The new project will reunite producers Jason Blum and Oren Peli with Christopher Landon, the writer of the second and third installments in the Paranormal franchise. Landon will write and direct the project, described by sources as a 'cousin' to the Paranormal movies but not a sequel, reboot or spinoff. The real kicker is that the movie will be Latino-themed. It will star a Latino cast and will tackle Catholic-based paranormal mythology. It will not, however, be in Spanish. The aim is to make the micro-budgeted movie in the next several months." [THR]
This just in from Nikki Finke: Paramount's cheap wannabe found footage hit The Devil Inside -- which drew reports of audible grumbles and boos as the credits rolled at sneak screenings in Los Angeles and New York last night -- has already made back double its acquisition costs. "The Devil Inside acquired for $1M opened with $2M midnights from 1,400 theaters. It goes wide into 2,300 theaters today," Finke writes at Deadline, adding that "the genre film plays very young and very ethnic so it will probably be frontloaded." Nice. Very young and very ethnic. If the pic turns into a Paranormal Activity-esque hit, you know who to blame. [Deadline, @STYDnews, Moviefone]
If you thought you had seen the last Muppets parody trailer, think again. With less than a month until Kermit and Miss Piggy storm the theaters for their movie comeback, The Muppets Studio has a released another promo in which the fuzzy gang pokes fun at Paranormal Activity 3, Puss In Boots, Breaking Dawn and themselves.
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The very existence of Paranormal Activity 3 may induce a few eye-rolls, but at this point it's hard to deny the sheer effectiveness of "found footage" horror films. After Time featured a cover story on The Blair Witch Project in '99, it appeared we'd be in for years and years of copycats, but there have been more than a handful of inventive twists on the young genre. What's your favorite?
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There was an inkling around town that Fantastic Fest's secret screening Wednesday would turn out to be Paranormal Activity 3, what with the viral VHS tapes surfacing in Austin this week and the seemingly perfect timing for the horror sequel, which hits theaters nationwide on Oct. 21. By the time the surprise world premiere was confirmed to a packed audience at midnight on Wednesday, it was a surprise many folks saw coming. So how did Paranormal Activity 3 measure up to its predecessors -- and what does it mean that it doesn't match up at all with its recent trailer?
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Today at Fantastic Fest, Movieline got its hands on a VHS tape labeled "September 1988," packaged in an unmarked manila envelope. Perhaps (probably) not coincidentally, the date corresponds to recently released footage from Paranormal Activity 3, the forthcoming found footage prequel about spooky goings-on in the lives of a family haunted by unseen forces. Could this have something to do with tomorrow's hotly anticipated secret screening?
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After directing Al Pacino to a Golden Globe win in last year's You Don't Know Jack, it seems Barry Levinson needed a change of pace -- like, a major 180. And that's how we come to today's news that Levinson's next film, a found footage creature horror called The Bay (working title: Isopod), has been picked up for distribution by Lionsgate.
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