Paramount Is Giving Paranormal Activity Fans A Halloween Present
As far as cinematic legacies go, 2007's "Paranormal Activity" has one of the most sterling as a found-footage chiller of the first order. Ditto for its status as a legit box office champ. The film — produced on a reported budget of $15,000 — shocked the whole of Hollywood by taking in close to $200 million in global ticket sales (per Box Office Mojo). It also inspired one of the more unexpected blockbuster franchises of the modern era, with six "Paranormal Activity" films released in the almost 15 years since the first one debuted. In sports, we call that a Cinderella story.
While every one of those "Paranormal Activity" sequels has proven a fruitful commercial endeavor for Blumhouse Productions and Paramount Pictures, even a franchise fan would likely argue they've been somewhat hit-or-miss in terms of quality. That hasn't stopped "Paranormal Activity" flicks from trudging through the production pipeline, with Blumhouse and Paramount announcing in 2020 the franchise's seventh film was indeed in the works.
Not long after, Paramount announced the new film would make its premiere exclusively on the Paramount+ streaming platform in March of 2022. In an unusual turn of events, it now seems fans of the franchise will be getting their paranormal found-footage groove on much sooner than expected. You read that right.
Paramount+ is dropping the new Paranormal Activity this Halloween
By sooner, we mean just in time for spooky season 2021. As reported by Deadline, ViacomCBS Streaming's Chief Programming Officer Tanya Giles has just announced the new "Paranormal Activity" film will indeed be hitting Paramount+ sometime before Halloween of this year. Along with that stunning news, Giles went on to offer that said movie will be accompanied by a behind-the-scenes documentary about the new film, stating, "A new 'Paranormal Activity' from Paramount Players should bring fans an unexpected reimagining of the beloved horror franchise. We'll also be launching a documentary on the making of the 'Paranormal Activity' feature. Both of which will be coming to the service in time for Halloween."
That'll no doubt come as amazing news for folks dying for fresh paranormal scares of the found footage order, even as Giles offered no new info regarding the plot of the new film. We do, however, know that the "Paranormal Activity 7" will feature Emily Bader, Roland Buck III, Dan Lippert, and Henry Ayres-Brown in various roles. And per Giles' statement, it will apparently be a "reimagining" of the franchise itself.
Thankfully, fans of the series won't have to wait too much longer to find out where and when the franchise is headed next. As for the accompanying documentary, it's unclear if it will be focused entirely on the new film or the franchise's legacy to date, but you can certainly count our interests piqued.