After thinking that Paramount would start to shift slightly away from the Paranormal Activity franchise after the second film underperformed a little, the third film turned out to be the highest grossing of them all, scaring up over $200M worldwide. The studio was smart in tapping some hot, new blood to take over the directing reins in Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost(Catfish), taking the micro-budgeted horror to a whole new level. In fact, Paramount was so happy with the result that it looks like we're getting at least one more.
While touting their $5.17B global dominance over every other studio in 2011, a new press release from Paramount also has a little something to say about Paranormal Activity 4.....
"In 2012, Paramount’s release slate highlights include “World War Z,” a zombie thriller starring Brad Pitt and directed by Marc Forster, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” the next installment in the global franchise starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Channing Tatum, a new chapter in the “Paranormal Activity” franchise, and “The Dictator,” starring Sacha Baron Cohen and directed by Larry Charles, the team behind “Borat.”
So there ya go, there WILL be another Paranormal Activity. The question now is who will direct? Oren Peli will no doubt be producing, as he has since he helmed the groundbreaking first film. Could Schulman and Joost possibly come back? People seemed to dig some of the innovations they added, including the roving camera bit. Nah, more likely we'll see somebody new take over. Maybe...William Brent Bell? Bell is the guy behind Paramount's The Devil Inside, which has a fair amount of buzz behind it going into this weekend's release.
