Paramount May Make Paranormal Activity Sequel

Published by Jeff Leins on: October 26th, 2009

Paramount Pictures is “actively considering” a Paranormal Activity sequel to its low-cost acquisition. The inevitable news of a follow-up comes after the $15,000 production rose to the top of the box office this weekend and boasted a cumulative total of $62.5 million.

“We have the rights on a worldwide basis to do ‘Paranormal 2′ and we’re looking to see if that makes some sense,” Paramount Chairman Brad Grey told the LA Times on Sunday.

The film played the indie festival circuit in early 2008 until Paramount picked up the movie for $300,000. Steven Spielberg famously had an encounter before contributing the ending idea currently shown in theaters (one of a few alternate conclusions). In the high-profile split with DreamWorks, Paramount held on to it and devised a slow rolling, viral marketing strategy that only cost them roughly $10 million and paid off handsomely.

The obvious comparison is Artisan Entertainment’s Blair Witch Project 2: Book of Shadows, a failure on every level without the help or consent of the filmmakers who created the original. While Paramount doesn’t need the stars of the first for Paranormal Activity 2, bringing Oren Peli back to direct would be a step in the right direction towards building a worthwhile series. Then again, if there’s not a fresh story to tell, what’s the point of dragging us down that hallway again?

What do you think? Should they make a Paranormal sequel or leave it alone?