2027 is looking to be another intriguing and anticipated year for the horror genre, as two beloved, foundational film franchises of the found footage style will see revivals and progress. The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity will return to the big screen as Jason Blum of Blumhouse has officially confirmed:
“They’re both coming out next year.”
Paranormal Activity sees a demonic entity, later named Tobi, terrorising several families throughout the seven films, all captured and presented via security and video cameras. Ian Tuason has been hired to lead the eighth installment in the found-footage, supernatural horror series, five years on from the soft reboot/standalone sequel, Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin.
“Jason Blum initially talked to me about a bunch of different IPs, and I expressed the most interest in Paranormal Activity,” Tuason explained
Tuason has recently been credited as the writer and director of Undertone, his directorial debut, which focused on a paranormal podcaster stumbling upon a cursed audio file during recording. The film relied on sound design for its scares, with the protagonist and her comatose mother being the only characters we see, with all others being heard via phone calls.
This stylistic element was inspired by the first Paranormal Activity film from 2007 by director Oren Peli, as “The audio files in undertone were based on the first Paranormal Activity movie, in terms of the couple who were recording themselves,” the director shares. “It was a very big influence on the movie.”
Tuason has also teased the technological advancements his contribution to the franchise will entail since 2015’s The Ghost Dimensions. “Technology — camera technology — has advanced to a point where it’s become a big part of the film and what I want to do there,” he stated.
As for the Blair Witch reboot, YouTuber-turned-filmmaker Dylan Clark will direct, with Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick,the original creators and directors, set to executive produce the remake, alongside Gregg Hale and actors Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams.
“Getting all the original people that were involved in the original Blair Witch, getting their blessing and getting them involved. That was very important for all of us,” producer James Wann shared. “We wanted to pay respect to the legacy of it all.”
The reboot’s synopsis has revealed an expansion from a film crew or friends falling prey to the witch to a more family-centred format, as audiences will see “a family that goes on a camping trip but goes missing one by one after they hear strange noises in the forest.”
The original Blair Witch Project film from 1999 was a smash hit and cultural turning point for the horror franchise, grossing $248.6 million from a budget of $200,000-$750,000 to become one of the most profitable films ever made. Focusing on a film crew attempting to solve the urban legend and mystery of an Appalachian Mountains witch in a found footage, pseudo-documentary style, the film kick-started a wave of found-footage horror filmmaking.
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
