Movies
Paramount Nixes ‘Paranormal Activity’ Remake
While everyone is out cashing in on the remake scene, there’s one studio that’s not, and that’s Paramount. While DreamWorks/Paramount acquired Oren Peli’s Paranormal Activity solely with the intent of remaking the film, the studio realized that the actual film was more terrifying than anything they could do with millions of dollars. In a new article at Variety about Room 101 producer Steve Schneider, it reveals that Paramount has officially nixed the idea of a remake. Read on for the skinny.
From Variety:
The linchpin of all this love is “Paranormal Activity,” a “verite” trip into the unknown and Oren Peli’s independently produced directorial debut. “DreamWorks, under Paramount, bought it with the intention of remaking it with the original director,” Schneider says. “We had test screenings built into the deal, so we could discern what needed to be redone in the remake. But the movie tested so well, they decided that it would be the height of folly to remake a mock-doc-type film with unknown actors.”
In the film playing Fantastic Fest on September 25th (and still awaiting theatrical release plans), a young couple suspects that their house is haunted by a malevolent entity. They set up video surveillance to capture evidence of what happens at night as they sleep. Their surveillance and home videos have been edited into the 99 minute feature film “Paranormal Activity”.
Check out our raving review.
Also, here’s a bit more about Schneider, a big name is horror: “With “Paranormal Activity” readying to open via Paramount and a raft of projects poised at other venues — including “The Colony” at Participant, “Sacred Prey” at Warner Bros. and “13: Game of Death” at Dimension — Steven Schneider may become the dark genre’s warlock of choice.“
Two-time BAFTA winning filmmaker Joe Wright (Hanna, “Black Mirror“) is set to direct the feature adaptation of post-apocalyptic thriller novel, Juice, Deadline reports today.
Emmy winner Abi Morgan (Shame, “Eric”) will adapt Tim Winton‘s novel for Working Title Films.
In Juice, “A young husband and father is recruited into a top-secret resistance organization, to join the ranks of militia men tasked with targeting the isolated and wealthy culprits responsible for this global catastrophe. When a mission goes wrong, he finds himself on the run, having to fight to the end to survive in this hostile world.”
It’s set in a world ravaged by climate-change disaster.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled that Tim Winton has entrusted us with his extraordinary epic,” Wright told Deadline. “The story is both a thrilling modern family saga and an urgent call to action. I cannot wait for audiences to experience it on the big screen.”
Winton added, “I’m pleased to know a filmmaker of Joe Wright’s calibre has chosen to adapt Juice for the screen. His capacity to portray the turmoil and the turning points of nations and peoples as well as private individuals distinguishes his work as a director and I’m confident that Juice is in good hands.”
Juice was initially published in October 2024 and longlisted for The Climate Fiction Prize 2026.
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