The writer of the upcoming Paranormal Activity 7 has stated that a director has been hired for the long-awaited sequel. After five years of waiting since the last entry in the series, fans of the blockbuster horror franchise will be relieved to know that someone special is reportedly at the helm this time.
The franchise first kicked off in 2009 and caused an immediate sensation. As far as found footage films go, Paranormal Activity is considered by many to be one of the best ever made. The film follows the day-to-day lives of Katie and Micah, a couple who move into a new home and soon find themselves the targets of some very strange happenings. Micah sets up cameras in the home and what he captures terrified countless viewers. Perhaps most remarkable about the film, however, was the fact that it was made on a micro-budget of $15,000 and went on to make over $190 million globally. Any film that can do that is going to get a sequel, and in the case of Paranormal Activity, one sequel quickly became six—though none of them found the success that the first film did.
By 2015, Paranormal Activity had seemingly reached the end of its road. Fans of the franchise were few and far between, and while the sequels were still turning a profit, they were largely dismissed by critics and all but the most die-hard of fans. However, word soon spread that a seventh entry in the franchise was on its way, set to be released in 2021. Beyond that, not much else has been heard about Paranormal Activity 7. But in a new interview with Dread Central, the film’s writer, Christopher Landon, stated that the upcoming horror sequel has landed its director. For his part, Landon is very excited about this latest step forward:
I’m writing the new Paranormal Activity movie; we’re rebooting that franchise. I’m super excited about the director, but I can’t say who it is because they won’t let me [laughs]. He’s a get. He’s awesome! I think people are going to be really surprised by where we’re taking this thing.
Given Landon’s excitement, this new director is likely to be someone whose career is of note. Whether that means he’s a notable figure in the horror world or cinema as a whole remains to be seen, but whoever it is will certainly have their work cut out for them. At this point in the Paranormal Activity franchise, a reboot is going to have to be quite spectacular in order to get things back to where they were in 2009. The found footage genre has been done to death over the years and audiences don’t necessarily respond to the concept as they once did. Then again, the first film’s popularity arguably didn’t come from its found-footage style, but from its genuine scares along the way.
Whoever does end up being the mystery director behind Paranormal Activity 7 will be taking charge of a film series that has gone in a variety of different directions over the years. Stripping things down and rebooting the original concept does make the most sense but, at this point, some five years after the last installment arrived, are audiences still interested in a franchise that oversaturated itself in the span of a decade? Only time will tell.
Source: Dread Central