In a press release issued earlier today, movie studio Paramount, who topped the studios list in 2011 with an impressive 5.17 billion dollars in revenue, announced, after months of speculation, there will be a "Paranormal Activity 4", and it is slated for an October 2012 release.
Fanboys across the board have already voiced their disdain for this, claiming the original three installments weren't scary at all, and this is an ill-deserved sequel. This is hard for me to swallow.
I still recall seeing the first "Paranormal Activity" back in October of 2009 when no one had heard of the movie and it was released in very limited theaters. Since the film was made (and takes place) in San Diego, it made sense it would screen there, and me, living in El Cajon and the time, was able to see it. This film blew me away. On a budget of less than one million and a reputation built solely by its audience members, "Paranormal Activity" scared up an astonishing 107.9 million for Paramount domestically alone. Perfecting the hand-held camera grittiness and "what the hell is/was that?" feelings of "The Blair Witch Project", "Paranormal Activity" created more scares and outstanding press than any major horror film that year (or in recent memory, for that matter). Writer/director Oren Peli, who has continued to produce the other installments, showed the power of imagination by creating a simple, yet effective, method to scare the hell out of people.
Sure, "Paranormal Activity 2" disappointed a bit at the box office with lower 84.8 million domestic gross, with a budget of 3 million dollars, it's hard to argue the enormous profit margin there.
When "Paranormal Activity 3" came out, box office analysts were expecting a similar decline from the second. Instead, the threequel dominated with 103.8 million domestic gross on a 5 million dollar budget. If looking at worldwide grosses, "Paranormal Activity 3" took in over 202 million dollars, even out-grossing the original "Paranormal Activity" worldwide gross of 193 million dollars.
In the movie industry, it's just simple math. "Paranormal Activity 3" makes over 202 million dollars worldwide on a paltry 5 million dollar budget...that's a profit of 197 million dollars. Granted, advertising and print costs must be considered, but considering there are movies being made that are barely turning a profit, it should come as no surprise why a fourth movie would be in store.
However, there is still one looming question: where can they possibly go with it?
"Paranormal Activity" takes place during a two- to three-week span in September of 2008 with Katie and Micah. The second one, for the most part, is a prequel rather than a sequel, taking place between a similar time span months before the events of the first with Kristi (Katie's sister) and her family in the focus (including appearances of Katie and Micah here and there), until, in the final moments of the film, where it picks up a couple days after the events of the first. (I'm sorry if that was confusing, but I'm trying not to give spoilers here.) With the third installment, we go back to analog with a true prequel, showing Katie and Kristi as little girls in the 80s, where it all began, and we finally get to see what Katie had been talking about in the previous two installments.
Seeing that the last installment took us all the way back to the 80s, when consumer video cameras were available (though barely affordable), where the hell else can they go? Given the knowledge (from "Paranormal Activity 2") the haunting may be caused by a pact with a demon by Katie and Kristi's ancestors back in the early 20th Century, it could be fun to see that. However, this kind of film wouldn't be exactly viable unless it would be a silent film in the vein of "Nosferatu"...and even then, it would be too campy for audiences to truly enjoy.
If this made by a lesser studio by a lesser production team, I would say all bets are off and who knows what the hell will come of this franchise. However, this is Paramount Pictures and the franchise is still in the hands of creator Oren Peli, so I know, wherever this series goes, will more than likely be scary, incredible, and, most importantly for the studio, profitable. We'll just have to wait until October to see if I'm wrong.
