LUCIDMEDIA

Paranormal Activity Scares Up Serious Business

Written by Adam A. Donaldson Tuesday, 13 October 2009 11:16

It appears that movie fans have once again proved to studios that they know what they like and are willing to do what it takes to get. Although this past weekend’s supposedly biggest release was the Vince Vaughn-starring vacation comedy, Couples Retreat, the real story was the low budget scare-flick Paranormal Activity.

You haven’t heard of Paranormal Activity? Not entirely surprising given that it’s studio, Paramount Pictures, shirked the usual media campaigns budgeted in the tens of millions, and instead rolled it out through limited release midnight screenings in order to generate grassroots buzz. And in one of the rare instances of less is more, the plan worked.

Paranormal Activity opened on just 160 screens last weekend, including the only Canadian showing at the AMC 24 at Yonge/Dundas. Still, those 160 screens recouped over $7 million in receipts for the film, which was enough to secure a fifth place finish at the weekend box office. To put in perspective how monumental this is, Paranormal Activity made $44,163 per screen versus Couples Retreat, which made barely one-quarter of that, $11,780 per show, despite opening on 3,000 screens.

If money alone weren’t enough to convince Paramount that there was a desire to see this movie, the studio additionally promised that if one million people went to the event promotions website Eventful and requested that Paranormal Activity open in their city, town or nearby area, then the studio would take the film nationwide. On Saturday, the number of requests hit the magic one million, and pre-order tickets will go on sale Tuesday at 5 pm PST (or 8 pm Eastern).

"From the very beginning, we put this film in the hands of the fans and we trusted them to tell us where and when it should be seen,” said Rob Moore, Vice Chairman of Paramount Pictures. “We couldn't be more thrilled by their overwhelming support and we are happy to release the film in every town - big and small."

The movie premiered at the Screamfest Film Festival in Los Angeles on October 14th, 2007, and later went on to screen at the Slamdance Film Festival on January 18th, 2008. The film is done in a “mockumentary” style that is reminiscent of The Blair Witch Project, including the fact that the actors operated the camera themselves, improvised their dialogue and used their own first names. First time filmmaker Oren Peli also relied heavily on psychological scares, and even filmed the movie in his own house.

Also similar to The Blair Witch Project is the fact that the budget tapped out in the low five figures, with estimates placed between $11,000 to $15,000 USD. Peli took a year to prep the movie, doing intensive research into ghosts and the paranormal for authenticity; the actual shooting of the film took only seven days.

The DVD of the film then spent more than a year winding its way through the studio hallways around Hollywood till in 2008 it was screen by several executives at Dreamworks, eventually working its way up to that studio’s top boss, Steven Spielberg. Reportedly the director, who once wrote and produced a film called Poltergeist, had a paranormal experience of his own when his bedroom door mysterious locked from the inside as he watched the film. Later, Spielberg was freed by a locksmith, and he returned the DVD to the Dreamwork’s office in a black garbage bag the next day.

Now whether or not that’s true or is a rather embellished urban legend, one thing was undoubtedly true: Spielberg himself was now a believer in Paranormal Activity. The next day a remake of the film was greenlit, with the intention of releasing the original as part of a future DVD package. "They didn't know what to do with [the movie]," producer Jason Blum told the Los Angeles Time about the remake, adding that they just wanted to be "in business" with Peli.

Smartly though, Blum and Peli had it written into their contracts for the studio to host a one-time screening of the film. In that screening, several people walked out, supposedly being truly frightened by the film. It was at this point that any talk of a remake was dropped, with only the slow-progressing dissolution of Paramount and Dreamworks’ partnership delaying the film’s release.

So here we are, going on four years later, and with nearly $9 million in the bank from what was supposed to be a two week, very limited run, and Paranormal Activity is ready to breakout and make its mark on culture at large. Will it be as big as Blair Witch? Only time will tell.

For more information, on the film visit the website here.

Check out the trailer below: