Lionsgate Takes Paranormal Activity 2 Director Back From Paramount, Obliges Him To Direct Saw 3D
UPDATE:As one might expect, Kevin Greutert isn’t happy about this move. Check out his response at the end of the article.
This is a crazy development that, if true, sounds like stereotypical Hollywood business and absolutely terrible PR. A report has it that Lionsgate, irked by the fact thatParamount hired long-timeSaweditor and recentSaw VIdirectorKevin Greutertto directParanormal Activity 2, has exercised an option on the filmmaker and will oblige him to directSaw 3D. That’s right — the studio is, in essence, forcing Greutert to make the seventhSawfilm so that he can’t help Paramount with the rivalParanormal Activityfranchise.
Mike Fleming atDeadline Hollywoodhas the report, saying that the real prompt for this move was Paramount setting October 22 as the release date forParanormal Activity 2. That’s the same date Lionsgate already held forSaw 3D. (Which we’ve seen referred to asSaw VIIandSaw VII 3D; Fleming just calls itSaw 3D.) Last year the firstParanormal Activityopened againstSaw VIand trounced it, handing Lionsgate the most dismal box office returns in the history of the series. This despite the fact that Greutert’s sequel seems to be better received among fans than other recentSawfilms.Paranormal Activitywas a juggernaut, thanks to skillful marketing.
The obvious question, then: did Greutert and his people really not see this coming? It’s a show of force by Lionsgate that was probably considered unlikely. But given that theSawfranchise represents a financial windfall for the studio and that Paramount was pretty brazen in hiring Greutert in the first place, what else was Lionsgate going to do? And what does Greutert do now, besides make the bestSaw 3Dhe can? How can he possibly make a good movie if he feels press-ganged into the job?
As for Paramount, how much trouble can the studio really have finding another director to take onParanormal Activity 2? Both films have to start basically right now — Greutert is said to have two weeks before beginningSaw 3D— but if you throw a rock in Hollywood you’ll hit six people willing to takePA2with shorter notice than that. OriginalPAdirectorOren Peliis still finishingArea 51, so Paramount talking him back into the fold is probably out of the question.
Remember when horror films could just be fun? Oh, right, they were always commodities. But the money-grubbing business behind them rarely seemed this overt. At least this business push and pull might be more entertaining than either film…
UPDATE: If you read this and thought, “man, it must suck to be Kevin Greutert right now,” seems like you’re right. From hisofficial sitecomes this post:
I’m in the middle of something really terrible right now, as anyone who has come to this site probably knows. While I fight for justice in this, the important thing is to avoid giving in to hatred and anger, because these emotions are life killers. Hopefully we will all arrive at an amicable solution. Thank you to everyone who is working with me on this. – Kevin
