‘Paranormal Activity’ Reboot Moves Forward With ‘Happy Death Day’ And ‘Underwater’ Filmmakers

The Paranormal Activity franchise was never going to sit idle for long. Even at its “end” with 2015’s The Ghost Dimension, the found footage horrors remained profitable for both Paramount and Blumhouse, relying on lower-budget effects and atmospherics to scare audiences. Last year, writer/director Christopher Landon revealed that an upcoming reboot would have a surprising director attached, and now we know who that will be.

According to THR, William Eubank will direct the upcoming Paranormal Activity reboot. While that may not be a gigantic name, Eubank is the guy behind the underrated deep sea horror, Underwater, that starred Kristen Stewart. He first showed his skill with the 2014 indie sci-fi horror The Signal. The plan is to keep the found footage aesthetic, but the film is being described as an “unexpected retooling” of the franchise.

Landon, who wrote four Paranormal Activity films and directed the fifth one, The Marked Ones, will write the script. Few are on a hotter streak right now than Landon, who is coming off two successful Happy Death Day films and the recent horror-comedy, Freaky. Original franchise creator Oren Peli will join with Jason Blum of Blumhouse and Paramount Players to produce.

These movies have never taken a long time to shoot, so it should be no trouble for Paranormal Activity to be ready by its March 4th 2022 release date.

 

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.