Paranormal Activity - New Horror Movie is the Next Blair Witch

C

ChipG

Carbonite Member
There is a new horror movie called Paranormal Activity that might be the next Blair Witch.

It played on 33 screens, midnight only shows but get this, it has a weekend est gross of $500k, that's a $15k per screen average.

Steven Speilberg watched it, he was very freaked out and disturbed, he said it was the scariest movie he has ever seen.

Paramount picked it up and it looks like it will go into wide release with twitter and facebook driving huge demand in college towns.

This movie could explode and turn into the next Blair Witch or even pass BW.

This is the little horror type indie film that everyone wishes they would have made.

http://www.paranormalmovie.com/?gclid=CPmJ4Pyiop0CFR4Uagod40xqAA
 
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Paramount just said they are now releasing this movie in 40 markets at all hours starting Oct. 9th. The lastest numbers have it grossing $16k per screen or $535k for 33 screens.
 
I really hope it is a scary one.

All those things like Saw, The Ring, Hostel, etc... really didn't do anything for me. Killing a red shirt in inventive ways is not scary, neither is gore.

The only thing that still evokes an emotion to this day is The Exorcist.
 
Someone spoiled it for me so now I won't enjoy it as much but I still can't wait to see it.

I'll bet it out grosses Saw, word of mouth on this movie is just CRAZY strong in the few college towns it's played.
 
I cost 15k to make. that's one hell of a margin if that includes marketing which was done on a viral level if I'm not mistaken.

Hell if SB said it was the scariest movie he has ever seen then I'm in. Scary for me is the Exorcist, The shining, Amityville horror, and night of the living dead (original). Saw 1 was good but not really scary. and The Ring had a some very creepy moments and still holds up in my book. But I will always be a gore guy, the more the better.
 
Barry_Green said:
The IMDB votes are really strong. 8.7 rating with over 600 votes in.
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It was at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, that could have changed.

If it can break out of it's cult college audience and go more mainstream, numbers will explode.

What a marketing dream. Over 200,000 people requested it via web page in thier city in a very, very short period of time.
 
this is really interesting...I think I was reading a thread in another section where someone was babbling on about how it's impossible to make a sub-$100K movie that would succeed.

And if everyone if telling the truth here, these people would have succeeded by making $50K off of this, much less what it's doing.

Good case study for the DIY crowd...
 
THe point, once again and underlined and double-underlined, is -- don't do what Hollywood does. Do something different, and you'll have a chance. Be unique, have a unique voice. And make something people want to watch (and that is far more difficult than people seem to give credit for).
 
Barry_Green said:
THe point, once again and underlined and double-underlined, is -- don't do what Hollywood does. Do something different, and you'll have a chance. Be unique, have a unique voice. And make something people want to watch (and that is far more difficult than people seem to give credit for).
Click to expand...

Barry, you are wise on many, many levels :)
 
...and it's not about the camera. I know people hate to hear that. Can't hurt, but it's not what "it's" about.
 
Mark,

If your referring to a thread I was in or started my point was distributors aren't buying the same old, same old movie that the market is way over saturated with and that's why indies fail.

Peli really put the 'your gonna sh*t your pants & scream like a little girl' in this movie and did it on very little money and in a new fresh way, not the same old, same old horror movie that has been done 10,000 times. Only bad part is now we are going to see 23,000 of these made in the future.

Barry, someone told me first time director Peli use to be a software programmer who designed video games.
 
Barry_Green said:
THe point, once again and underlined and double-underlined, is -- don't do what Hollywood does. Do something different, and you'll have a chance. Be unique, have a unique voice. And make something people want to watch (and that is far more difficult than people seem to give credit for).
Click to expand...

Well, there doesn't seem to be anything new or different about this movie at all, from the Blair Witch conceit to the "you'll never sleep again" marketing campaign. Hell, I remember seeing Alien as a kid and later learning that the ambulance parked outside was put there by the marketing people to make you think the movie was so scary you might die of a heart attack. They've been hyping movies like this for ages.

This looks more like very excellent execution of very old school techniques(sans lots of EFX). Coupled with the fact that most of the kids in colleges jumping out of their seats were too young to see Blair Witch, so it seems new. Even though, by now we've had many films done in that style.

What's more interesting to me is how the studio seems to be using this as a test case for viral marketing. Interesting snippet I got from a review. Maybe people have seen this before, but I thought it was pretty interesting. It's a no-lose situation for the studio, as the movie probably cost them less to acquire than Some movie star's fruit and nut budget.

Paranormal Activity has a complicated and frustrating history. Released in competition at various festivals as early as October 2007 and picked up by a major studio primarily for remake rights so that it could be redone more “polished” with name actors, these plans fell through and now Paranormal Activity is finally getting a commercial release in limited venues this weekend by Paramount Pictures following a hasty, misguided, underwhelming, and gimmicky advertising campaign whose sole selling point seems to be showing night-vision footage of various audiences reacting to the film.
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If this wins, they can really get a handle on how to cut their marketing budgets by letting the audience do the work of demanding it and following the demographics.

I am curious to know how much they spent on the marketing...
 
who cares. he made it cheap and it's doing well. "gimmicky marketing" and all. There always seems to be a "but" when something like this happens. I think it's fantastic.
 
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