Movies
Paramount Pictures Punching Up ‘Paranormal’ Director’s ‘Area 51’
Bloody Disgusting is being told that director/actor Chris Denham has been hired to do some rewrites on Area 51, Paranormal Activity director Oren Peli’s sophomore effort that will also go back behind cameras to shoot some addition footage.
The film, which stars Reid Warner, Darrin Bragg, and Ben Rovner, employs the “found footage” narrative structure that Peli used in Paranormal Activity to tell the story of three teens whose curiosity leads them to the notorious Area 51 portion of Nellis Air Force Base in the Nevada desert.
As we always like to remind readers, additional photography isn’t always a negative. Many times it’s to add more gore, an intense scene, or to just string together the story a bit more. Paramount also had Super 8 on their release schedule, so it seemed kind of odd to release two similar themed (yet completely polar opposite in budgetary costs) films in the same quarter. I personally cannot wait to see what Peli’s second directorial effort produces.
Since the release of Paranormal, Peli has also produced Insidious and Rob Zombie’s forthcoming The Lords of Salem. He is also the creator/producer on ABC’s forthcoming pilot “The River”. Big stuff!
It’s now been five years since the release of sequel Happy Death Day 2U, Christopher Landon’s sequel to the Groundhog Day-style slasher movie from 2017. Both films star Jessica Rothe as final girl Tree Gelbman, and director Christopher Landon had been planning on bringing the character – and the actor – back for a third installment. So… where is it?!
We’ve been talking about a potential Happy Death Day 3 for several years now, with the ball in producer Jason Blum’s court. Happy Death Day 2U scared up $64 million at the worldwide box office, a far cry from the first film’s $125 million. But with a reported production budget of just $9 million, that first sequel was profitable for Blumhouse. So again… where is it?!
Chatting with Screen Geek this week while promoting her new action-thriller Boy Kills World, franchise star Jessica Rothe provided a hopeful update on Happy Death Day 3.
“Well, I can say Chris Landon has the whole thing figured out,” Rothe explains. “We just need to wait for Blumhouse and Universal to get their ducks in a row.
Rothe continues in her comments to Screen Geek, “But my fingers are so crossed. I think Tree [Gelbman] deserves her third and final chapter to bring that incredible character and franchise to a close or a new beginning.”
Back in 2020, Christopher Landon had revealed that the working title for the third installment was Happy Death Day to Us, said to be “different than the other two films.”
In the meantime, Christopher Landon is directing a mysterious thriller titled Drop for Blumhouse and Platinum Dunes, along with a werewolf movie titled Big Bad for Lionsgate.
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