The news for writer/director Oren Peli and his little-horror-film-that-could, “Paranormal Activity,” just seems to be getting better and better. His film, which cost about $15,000 to make, became one of the biggest stories of 2009, selling out theaters, scaring audiences silly and even reaching number one at the box office. Not bad for a first time director who shot the film in a week in his own home. Well, he’s about to be getting some even more good news.
Translation? You can probably bet on “Paranormal Activity 2” being ready in time for Hallowe’en 2010. The “right creative and marketing approach” probably boils down to: don’t spend a lot of money, do a lot of low-cost viral marketing and advertise to the core audience. It’s a process that Lionsgate already has down to a science with the “Saw” franchise.
And speaking of Lionsgate, as we previously reported, the duo of Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick are about pitch “Blair Witch 3” to the studio, who currently own the rights to the franchise. By the end of year, you can be certain that studios all over town will be greenlighting all kinds of low-budget horror films to try and duplicate “Paranormal Activity”‘s success, so get ready for wave of cheap scares coming to cinema screens soon.