Movies
Shocking Frontrunners to Direct Glossy ‘Paranormal Activity’ Sequel?
I’ve been staring at a blinking cursor for about 5 minutes now. I don’t know what to say, I really don’t. While I trust the producers behind Paranormal Activity 2 explicitly, I have zero faith in the suits at the studio — you know, the old dudes who “think” they get it. If anything, history should provide a lesson, yet nobody wants to learn. Blair Witch 2 certainly panned out for Artisan, didn’t it? No, it was a failure. The transition from a low budget indie to a big budget polished studio fare in not just nauseating, but also completely idiotic. Maybe it’ll work? I’d bet against it. So, I’m staring at a blinking cursor because the LA Times just posted the names in the running to direct the sequel to Oren Peli’s box office smash hit from this past September, and while a few are exciting, I can’t help but feel like I’m about to be raped.
The most shocking name being throw around is directing icon Brian De Palma (Scarface, Dressed to Kill, Mission: Impossible, The Untouchables), reports the LA Times.
They also add that Akiva Goldsman Goldsman, the Oscar-winning writer A Beautiful Mind, was at one point in talks. He’s also the writer and/or producer on a host of big-budget studio movies, including The Da Vinci Code and I Am Legend.
The fact that they’d even have such huge names in the same breath at Paranormal Activity 2 is a shocker and head-spinner. Seriously, why?
Aside from the bizarre and odd, there are a few genre directors that were mentioned that I’m quite fond of – and personally hope get the job before a De Palma-type name.
The first being Brad Anderson (The Machinist, Session 9), while the second is Greg McLean, who directed the fun direct-to-video giant croc flick Rogue, along with the Aussie thriller Wolf Creek.
Saw VI director Kevin Greutert was originally slated to get behind the camera until Lionsgate exercised an option to force him back into Jigsaw’s world for Saw VII 3D (currently lensing in Toronto).
Paranormal Activity 2 is still slated for release on October 22.
If you had to choose, who would you pick? What do you think of these options? This is a big deal as this could become a new franchise for our beloved genre. Saw appears to be losing steam, we need something.
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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