‘The Devil Inside’ Director & Writer Making New ‘Found Footage’ Horror Film

Hot on the heels of a demonic monster opening weekend at the box office (to the tune of $34.5 million) for The Devil Inside, the film’s writer/director (William Brent Bell) and co-writer (Matthew Peterman) are already preparing to shoot another, currently untitled, “found footage” style horror film.

It’s no surprise to hear that the pair is moving fast, especially considering that most box office experts are expecting a major drop-off for The Devil Inside in the coming week – due to negative word of mouth and the unenthusiastic response of the critical community (read our review of The Devil Inside). However, regardless of the film’s reception, it managed to do big bucks on a $1 million budget – making the pair an attractive prospect for Hollywood executives.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, CEO of Sierra/Affinity, Nick Meyer had no problem touting the pair’s accomplishments – even if The Devil Inside legacy is still up in the air:

“From day one, we have been huge fans of this filmmaking team and the way they have crafted a unique movie-going experience with The Devil Inside. These are filmmakers we know and trust and they bring an original voice and style to our next project that will once again introduce audiences to a new expectaiton of what one can define as a genre film.”

Bell and Peterman will, as mentioned, write the film together with Bell once again pulling double-duties as director. The film is set for financing through Sierra/Affinity and the Incentive Filmed Entertainment Fund with Peterman as well as Steven Schneider (Paranormal Activity, Insidious) and Morris Paulson (The Devil Inside) producing – and Bell, Peterman, and Paulson’s company, Prototype, handling production. The film is set to start work in Romania this April – though no storylines or potential cast members have been revealed at this point.

Admittedly, this new project was just announced but it’s hard not to be somewhat suspicious given the lack of concrete details, and Schneider’s annualizing of the Paranormal Activity series - not to mention The Devil Inside cliffhanger and decent box office profit. Is it a possibility that, despite Meyer’s claims that the new film will set “a new expectaiton of what one can define as a genre film,” that the new film could be the no-brainer Devil Inside sequel?

Of course, with all the uncertainty around whether or not audiences would be receptive to a Devil Inside 2, there’s always the possibility that the pair is actually preparing a different “found footage” genre experience – hopefully with a better ending this round. A Deadline report indicates that the new Bell/Peterman film will “bring a similar filmmaking style to another classic horror mythology” – though, with so few details to go on, it’s possible that the movie’s producers are merely trying to muddy the waters a bit and keep people from speculating that the new film is actually just another installment in Hollywood’s next big annualized cash grab. We’ll likely know more next month – as Sierra/Affinity is expected to sell the project to potential foreign buyers at the European Film Market in Berlin.

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Follow me on Twitter @benkendrick for further updates.

Source: THR, Deadline