Paranormal Activity | |
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Created by | Oren Peli |
Original work | Paranormal Activity |
Owner | Blumhouse Paramount Global |
Years | 2007–2021 |
Films and television | |
Film(s) |
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Paranormal Activity is an American supernatural horror franchise consisting of seven films and additional media. Created by Oren Peli, the original film premiered in 2007 and was widely released in 2009.
The films are typically based around various families who become haunted by an evil demon known as "Tobi" that stalks, terrifies and ultimately murders several members of the family and other bystanders during the course of the films. The series makes use of production cameras set up as security cameras or other recording devices in an attempt to present the films as found footage.
The series has received overall mixed reviews across all films. The first and third films received generally positive critical reception, the second and fifth films received more mixed reviews, and the fourth, sixth and seventh received mostly negative reviews. The series was financially successful, making strong profits based on return on investment. The series as a whole has grossed over thirty times the overall budget.
A seventh mainline installment, titled Next of Kin, was released on October 29, 2021 to the Paramount+ streaming service.
Film | U.S. release date | Director(s) | Writer(s) | Producers | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Screenplay by | Story by | ||||
Paranormal Activity | September 25, 2009 | Oren Peli | Jason Blum, Oren Peli and Steven Schneider | ||
Paranormal Activity 2 | October 22, 2010 | Tod Williams | Michael R. Perry, Christopher Landon and Tom Pabst | Michael R. Perry | Jason Blum and Oren Peli |
Paranormal Activity 3 | October 21, 2011 | Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman | Christopher Landon | Christopher Landon | Jason Blum, Oren Peli and Steven Schneider |
Paranormal Activity 4 | October 19, 2012 | Chad Feehan | Jason Blum and Oren Peli | ||
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones | January 3, 2014 | Christopher Landon | Christopher Landon | ||
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension | October 23, 2015 | Gregory Plotkin | Jason Pagan, Andrew Deutschman Gavin Heffernan and Adam Robitel | Brantley Aufill, Jason Harry Pagan and Andrew Deutschman | |
Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin | October 29, 2021 | William Eubank | Christopher Landon |
Set in October 2006, a young couple, Katie and Micah, who have recently moved to a new house in San Diego, California, are terrorized by a demon that has stalked Katie since childhood. The film is designed to look like a found footage-styled film with Micah filming the activity in their house.
Set in August 2006, two months before the events of the first film, Katie's sister Kristi and her family reside in Carlsbad, California, where they experience strange activity after her baby, named Hunter, is born. The film uses security cameras and in some scenes, a hand-held camera to film the activity in the house.
Set in September 1988, it focuses on a younger Katie and Kristi, who live with their mother Julie and her boyfriend, Dennis, in Santa Rosa, California. As they experience sightings and then encounter "Tobi" the demon for the very first time. Concerned, Dennis decides to set up a few cameras around the house with the help of his friend Randy, who also encounters "Tobi" as well. There are many cameras set around the house, one of which is attached to a small oscillating fan that moves the camera back and forth from the kitchen area to the living room and vice versa. The film also uses a hand-held camera handled mainly by Dennis.
Set in November 2011, the film focuses on Alex Nelson and her family residing in a neighborhood in Henderson, Nevada. The family began to experience hauntings, concerning Alex's adopted brother, Wyatt, after Katie and her mysterious son, Robbie, move in across the street. Alex is helped by her boyfriend, Ben, to film the activity via MacBook webcams, a video camera, an iPhone camera and Kinect technology.
Set in June 2012, the film follows a Latino community in Oxnard, California, where a group of high school graduates deal with the demon of a mysterious cult which has "marked" one of them. They document their experiences using basic tools of recording and with clues from the previous films to try to understand what is happening to them. The Marked Ones is the last film in the series to feature Katie Featherston.
Set in December 2013, the film follows the Fleeges, a family of three who, after having relocated to a house in Santa Rosa, California, discover several tapes, set in 1992, that show Katie and Kristi in the midst of their initiation ritual to enter a demonic coven. The family begins to be haunted by the demon when the daughter, Leila, is targeted as she was born on the same date as Hunter from Paranormal Activity 2. Along with normal recorders, the family also discovers a unique video recorder that can visibly show supernatural happenings, which they use to record the increasing paranormal activities.
A seventh installment, Next of Kin, [1] was directed by William Eubank with a script by Christopher Landon. [2] Originally scheduled for release on March 19, 2021, [3] the film was delayed to October 29. [4] Due to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema, the project skipped its theatrical release and was instead released via streaming, as a Paramount+ exclusive film. [5] [6] This installment features a young woman named Margot who, alongside her small film crew, attempt to make a documentary on an Amish community to try and find out more about Margot's mysterious past, only for them to discover the horrific secrets the town holds.
Character | Films | Video game | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paranormal Activity | Paranormal Activity 2 | Paranormal Activity 3 | Paranormal Activity 4 | Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones | Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension | Paranormal Activity: Next Of Kin | Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul | ||
2007 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2014 | 2015 | 2021 | 2017 | ||
Asmodeus "Tobi" of the Book of Tobit | Katie Featherston | Unseen | Katie Featherston | Andrew Jacobs Katie Featherston A | Mark Steger | Kirby Johnson Kyli Zion Henry Ayres-Brown | Jessica Belkin V Palmer Naftal V | ||
Katie Featherston | Chloe Csengery Y Katie Featherston C | Katie Featherston C A Chloe Csengery Y C | Chloe Csengery Y A | ||||||
Micah Sloat | Micah Sloat | Micah Sloat C | |||||||
Dr. Fredrichs | Mark Fredrichs | ||||||||
Amber | Amber Armstrong | ||||||||
Diane | Ashley Palmer | ||||||||
Kristi Rey (née Featherston) | Mentioned | Sprague Grayden | Jessica Tyler Brown Y Sprague Grayden C | Sprague Grayden A | Jessica Tyler Brown Y C | Jessica Tyler Brown Y C | |||
Daniel Rey | Brian Boland | Brian Boland C | Brian Boland A | Mentioned | |||||
Ali Rey | Molly Ephraim | Molly Ephraim | |||||||
Hunter Rey Wyatt Nelson | Jackson Xenia Prieto I William Juan Prieto T | Aiden Lovekamp William Juan Prieto U A T | Aiden Lovekamp C | ||||||
Martine | Vivis Cortez | ||||||||
Dennis | Chris Smith | Chris Smith A | |||||||
Julie Featherston | Mentioned | Lauren Bittner | Lauren Bittner P | Lauren Bittner A | |||||
Lois Featherston | Hallie Foote | Hallie Foote P U | Hallie Foote C | ||||||
Randy Rosen | Dustin Ingram | ||||||||
Lisa | Johanna Braddy | ||||||||
Alexandra "Alex" Nelson | Kathryn Newton | Mentioned | |||||||
Doug Nelson | Stephen Dunham | ||||||||
Holly Nelson | Alexondra Lee | ||||||||
Ben | Matt Shively | ||||||||
Robbie | Brady Allen | ||||||||
Jesse Arista | Andrew Jacobs | ||||||||
Hector Estrella | Jorge Diaz | ||||||||
Marisol Vargas | Gabrielle Walsh | ||||||||
Irma Arista | Renée Victor | ||||||||
Arturo Lopez | Richard Cabral | ||||||||
Ryan Fleege | Chris J. Murray | ||||||||
Emily Fleege | Brit Shaw | ||||||||
Mike Fleege | Dan Gill | ||||||||
Leila Fleege | Ivy George | ||||||||
Skyler | Olivia Taylor Dudley | ||||||||
Margot | Emily Bader | ||||||||
Chris | Roland Buck III | ||||||||
Dale | Dan Lippert | ||||||||
Samuel Belier | Henry Ayres-Brown | ||||||||
Jacob Belier | Tom Nowicki | ||||||||
Kat Thomas | Jessica Belkin V | ||||||||
Blake Thomas | Palmer Naftal V | ||||||||
The Witch | Emily O'Brien V |
First-time director Oren Peli had been afraid of ghosts his whole life, even fearing the comedy film Ghostbusters , but intended to channel that fear into something positive and productive. Peli took a year to prepare his own house for shooting, going so far as to repaint the walls, add furniture, put in a carpet, and build a stairwell. In this time, he also did extensive research into paranormal phenomena and demonology stating, "We wanted to be as truthful as we could be." The decision to make the supernatural entity in the story a demon was a result of the research pointing to the most malevolent and violent entities being "demons."
The phenomena in the film take place largely at night—the vulnerability of being asleep, Peli reasoned, taps into a human being's most primal fear, stating, "If something is lurking in your home there's not much you can do about it."
Attempting to focus on believability rather than action and gore, Peli chose to shoot the picture with a home video camera. In deciding on a more raw and stationary format (the camera was almost always sitting on a tripod or something else) and eliminating the need for a camera crew, a "higher degree of plausibility" was created for the audience and they were "more invested in the story and the characters". Peli says that the dialogue was "natural" because there was no real script. Instead, the actors were given outlines of the story and situations to improvise, a technique known as "retroscripting" used in the making of The Blair Witch Project .
In casting the movie, Peli auditioned "a few hundred people" before finally meeting Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat. He originally auditioned them individually and later called them back to audition together. Peli was impressed with the chemistry between the actors, saying, "If you saw the footage, you would've thought they had known each other for years." During a guest appearance on The Jay Leno Show on November 3, 2009, Sloat and Featherston explained they each saw the casting call on LACasting. Featherston noted they were originally paid $500 for their work. The film was shot out of sequence due to Peli's self-imposed seven-day shooting schedule, though Peli would have preferred the story unfold for the actors as he had envisioned it. Sloat, who controlled the camera for a good deal of the film, was a former cameraman at his university's TV station. "It was a very intense week", Peli recalled, stating that the film would be shot day and night, edited at the same time, and would have the visual effects applied to it as the acting footage was being finalized.
Paramount and DreamWorks hired screenwriter Michael R. Perry to create Paranormal Activity 2 . Oren Peli, the director of the first film, served as a producer for this prequel. Kevin Greutert, director of Saw VI , was initially hired to direct the prequel; however, Lions Gate Entertainment exercised a clause in Greutert's contract to have him direct the final film in the Saw film series. Both of the actors from the first film, Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat, reprise their roles in the prequel. Tod Williams directed Paranormal Activity 2, which started production in May 2010 and was released in October the same year.
Paranormal Activity 3 and 4 were directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, documentary filmmakers who were well-known for their feature debut Catfish . Production on the third entry began in June, 2011, with a release October 21 of the same year. Filming for the fourth film commenced in June, 2012, with a release of October 19.
A Latin American-themed fifth film, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones was released on January 3, 2014. Oren Peli, the creator of the franchise, returned to produce the film, while Christopher Landon, a screenwriter who had worked on the prior three entries in the series, served as the writer and director.
The sixth film in the series, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension , [7] was announced to be released on October 25, 2013. [8] However, in August 2013, the release date was pushed back to October 24, 2014. [9]
On September 17, 2014, the film's title was finalized and the release date was set on March 27, 2015, [10] later changed to October 23, 2015. [7]
In September 2013, it was confirmed that Gregory Plotkin, a film editor who had edited every release in the series since Paranormal Activity 2, would make his directorial debut with the sixth film. [11] [12] Oren Peli, the creator of the franchise, and Jason Blum would return to produce the sixth film. In late September 2013, Paramount hired Almanac writers Jason Pagan and Andrew Stark to write the screenplay. [13] Though series writer Christopher Landon said that several sequels would follow The Ghost Dimension to wrap up the story, [14] producer Jason Blum later confirmed that the film would indeed be the last in the series. [15]
He said:
"It’s coming to an end. This is it, the finale. We’re saying it before the movie opens. We’re not going to grind this horror franchise into the ground. This will keep Paranormal Activity as part of this culture and this particular time in a really fantastic way… All the questions that everyone has asked from the past 'Paranormal Activity' films: What does Tob- look like? What’s the backstory to the families? These questions have been teased out. Now they will be answered."
A seventh film was released on October 29, 2021.
Films | U.S. Release date | Box Office Gross | Box Office Ranking | Budget | Ref. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
North America | Other territories | Worldwide | All time North America | All time worldwide | ||||
Paranormal Activity | September 25, 2009 | $107,918,810 | $85,436,990 | $193,355,800 | #486 | $15,000 | [16] | |
Paranormal Activity 2 | October 22, 2010 | $84,752,907 | $92,759,125 | $177,512,032 | #687 | $3 million | [17] | |
Paranormal Activity 3 | October 21, 2011 | $104,028,807 | $103,011,037 | $207,039,844 | #514 | #528 | $5 million | [18] |
Paranormal Activity 4 | October 19, 2012 | $53,900,335 | $88,917,657 | $142,817,992 | #1,253 | $5 million | [19] | |
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones | January 3, 2014 | $32,462,372 | $58,442,482 | $90,904,854 | #2,142 | $5 million | [20] | |
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension | October 23, 2015 | $18,300,124 | $60,603,000 | $78,903,124 | #3,288 | $10 million | [21] | |
Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin | October 29, 2021 | [22] | ||||||
Total | $401,384,320 | $432,715,006 | $890,533,646 | $28,015,000 | ||||
List indicator(s)
|
Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | CinemaScore [23] |
---|---|---|---|
Paranormal Activity | 83% (211 reviews) [24] | 68 (24 reviews) [25] | — |
Paranormal Activity 2 | 57% (137 reviews) [26] | 53 (23 reviews) [27] | B |
Paranormal Activity 3 | 66% (126 reviews) [28] | 59 (25 reviews) [29] | C+ |
Paranormal Activity 4 | 23% (113 reviews) [30] | 40 (22 reviews) [31] | C |
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones | 39% (84 reviews) [32] | 42 (19 reviews) [33] | C− |
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension | 15% (75 reviews) [34] | 30 (13 reviews) [35] | C |
Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin | 30% (47 reviews) [36] | 37 (12 reviews) [37] | — |
In December 2009, a short digital comic entitled Paranormal Activity: The Search for Katie was released for the iPhone. [38] It was written by Scott Lobdell [39] and features art from Mark Badger. [40]
An augmented reality game called Paranormal Activity: Sanctuary developed by Ogmento, was released in 2011. This mobile game was the first location-based augmented reality game ever produced, and combined vision-based AR with user-generated content and geo-social elements. [41]
A video game called Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul was released on August 15, 2017 for Microsoft Windows and PS4. The game was engineered for VR and made use of the PlayStation VR for the PlayStation as well as Oculus Rift and HTC Vive for Windows, but VR was not required for play. [42]
The game was nominated for "Best Sound Design for an Indie Game" at the 16th Annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards. [43]
A video game Paranormal Activity: Found Footage developed by DarkStone Digital and published by DreadXP will be released sometime in 2026. [44]
A documentary about the making of the films called Unknown Dimension: The Story of Paranormal Activity, was released on October 29, 2021. [45]
A non-canon Japanese language Paranormal Activity sequel was released in 2010. It follows Haruka Yamano, who was in a car accident that broke her legs. She stayed home with her brother while their father was away as strange activity started happening in the house. It is later revealed that Haruka killed the possessed Katie in the car accident, causing the demon to transfer to her.
A stage play based on the films also called Paranormal Activity written by Levi Holloway and directed by Felix Barrett premiered at the Courtyard at Leeds Playhouse on 4 July 2024 for a limited run until 3 August. [46]
Scary Movie is a series of American parody films, mainly focusing on spoofing horror films. The films have a combined gross of almost $900 million at the worldwide box office. The two recurring actresses are Anna Faris and Regina Hall as Cindy Campbell and Brenda Meeks, appearing in all installments except the fifth film.
Paranormal Activity is a 2007 American supernatural horror film produced, written, directed, photographed, and edited by Oren Peli. It centers on a young couple who are haunted by a supernatural presence inside their home. They then set up a camera to document what is haunting them. The film uses found-footage conventions that were mirrored in the later films of the series.
Katie Featherston is an American actress. She is known for playing Katie in the Paranormal Activity series.
Oren Peli is an Israeli film director, producer and screenwriter, known for directing the 2007 film Paranormal Activity.
Area 51 is a 2015 American found footage science fiction horror film directed and shot by Oren Peli and co-written by Peli and Christopher Denham. The film stars Reid Warner, Darrin Bragg, Ben Rovner, and Jelena Nik. The film was produced by Jason Blum under his Blumhouse Productions banner, and was released in a limited release and through video on demand on May 15, 2015, by Paramount Insurge. It is the second and most recent film directed by Peli.
Micah Sloat is an American actor, largely known for his leading role as Micah in the 2007 hit horror film Paranormal Activity. He also appeared in its 2010 sequel Paranormal Activity 2 and had a cameo in the spin-off film Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones in 2014.
Paranormal Activity 2 is a 2010 American found footage supernatural horror film directed by Tod Williams and written by Michael R. Perry, Christopher Landon and Tom Pabst. The film is a prequel and a sequel to the 2007 film Paranormal Activity, beginning two months before and following up with the events depicted in the original film. It was released in theaters at midnight on October 22, 2010 in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Poland and Ireland. An unrated version of the film was also released.
Paranormal Activity 3 is a 2011 American found footage supernatural horror film, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. It is the third installment of the Paranormal Activity series and serves as a prequel, mostly set 18 years prior to the events of the first two films. It was released in theaters on October 21, 2011. Paranormal Activity 3 was also Joost and Schulman's first horror film.
The River is a 2012 American found-footage supernatural action horror television series that ran from February 7, 2012 to March 20, 2012, on ABC. Broadcast as a mid-season replacement, the first season has eight episodes. Despite generally favorable reviews, The River had sub-par ratings.
Paranormal Activity 4 is a 2012 American found footage supernatural horror film, directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost and written by Christopher Landon from a story by Chad Feehan. It is the fourth installment in the Paranormal Activity series, and a sequel to Paranormal Activity 2. The film features Katie Featherston, who starred in the first film. It was released by Paramount Pictures in theaters and IMAX on October 17, 2012, in the United Kingdom and on October 19, 2012, in the United States.
Point Grey (PGP) is a Canadian-American film and television production company, founded in 2011 by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The company is named after Point Grey Secondary School in Vancouver, where they met.
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is a 2014 American found footage supernatural horror film written and directed by Christopher Landon. Released on January 3, 2014, in the United States, it is the fifth installment of the Paranormal Activity film series. It is also Landon's second directorial film, after Burning Palms. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $90 million worldwide.
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Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is a 2015 American zombie comedy film directed by Christopher Landon and written by Landon, Carrie Evans, Emi Mochizuki and Lona Williams. The film stars Tye Sheridan, Logan Miller, Joey Morgan, Sarah Dumont and David Koechner. The film was released in the United States on October 30, 2015, by Paramount Pictures. It received generally unfavorable reviews from critics.
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension is a 2015 American 3D found footage supernatural horror film directed by Gregory Plotkin in his directorial debut, and written by Jason Harry Pagan, Andrew Deutschman, Adam Robitel, and Gavin Heffernan. It is the sixth installment in the Paranormal Activity series. Most of the film takes place after Paranormal Activity 4 (2012), though the plot ties in heavily with the events of Paranormal Activity 3 (2011). It is the first installment not to star Katie Featherston as Katie, but she is referred to often. Most of the film involves the young 1988 Katie from the third film.
Insidious: The Last Key is a 2018 American supernatural horror film directed by Adam Robitel and written by Leigh Whannell. It is produced by Jason Blum, Oren Peli, and James Wan. It is the fourth installment in the Insidious franchise, and the second in the chronology of the story running through the series. Starring Lin Shaye, Angus Sampson, Whannell, Spencer Locke, Caitlin Gerard, and Bruce Davison, the film follows parapsychologist Elise Rainier as she investigates a haunting in her childhood home. The film is the sequel to Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015) and the second prequel to Insidious (2010) and Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013).
Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin is a 2021 American found footage supernatural horror film directed by William Eubank, written by Christopher Landon, and produced by Jason Blum and series creator Oren Peli. Serving as the seventh installment of the Paranormal Activity series, the film stars Emily Bader, Roland Buck III, Dan Lippert, Henry Ayres-Brown, and Tom Nowicki, and follows a group who attempt to make a documentary on an Amish community, only for them to discover the horrific secrets the town holds.