‘Paranormal Activity’ Reboot Will Be Directed By ‘Underwater’ Filmmaker William Eubank
In an interview last year,Paranormal Activityreboot writerChristopher Landonsaidhe was “super excited” about the yet-to-be-announced director who would be shepherding that vision to the big screen. “I can’t say who it is because they won’t let me. He’s a get. He’s awesome! I think people are going to be really surprised by where we’re taking this thing.”
Now that mystery has been solved. A new report says that theParanormal Activityreboot director will beWilliam Eubank, who most recently directed the Kristen Stewart-starring aquatic horror filmUnderwater.
According toThe Hollywood Reporter, Will Eubank will slide into the director’s chair of Paramount Players' upcoming reboot of theParanormal Activityfilm franchise, which is being described as an “unexpected retooling.” That immediately made me wonder if the franchise might shrug off the found footage aesthetic that defined its early success, but THR clarifies that the found footage approach will still be utilized in this retooling.
Landon wrote four of theParanormal Activitymovies and has become one of the primary architects of the narrative complexities of the supernatural horror franchise, so for him to still be involved with this “unexpected retooling,” I’m wondering if the “unexpected” aspect might involve tapping into characters or corners of that established mythology that we’ve seen already and putting them in a new context. Landon, who has gone on to write and directFreakyand theHappy Death Daymovies, has a playful creativity in his writing, so I’m very curious to see exactly how this new version might breathe some life back into this series.
As for Eubank, he’s arguably best known for directingUnderwater, but he also made a splash with his 2014 science fiction mysteryThe Signal, and I’m intrigued to see what kind of visual touches he decides to put on this latest entry. He’s exactly the type of exciting up-and-comer that should be tackling a project like this, using it as another building block in his burgeoning career.
Oren Peli, who wrote and directed the original 2007 film, will produce alongside Blumhouse’sJason Blum; the pair have produced every entry in this franchise so far.Steven Schneider, who executive produced all of the previous films (save for the third one, which he served as a producer), will be returning to executive produce this installment as well.
