Blumhouse Productions and Paramount Pictures have quite a cash cow in the form of the Paranormal Activity franchise. Despite diminishing returns, the films continue to make enough money to justify the longevity of the franchise, especially given how cheap they are to make. The producers have been facing a touch of difficulty with the release of Paranormal Activity 5, however, which was initially slated to be released in October 2014 and then wound up being bumped all the way to 2016. Now it sounds like Blumhouse and Paramount are trying to make up the difference and get the film ready for an October 2015 release date.
The reasons for fast-tracking Paranormal Activity 5 are not terribly clear, except that Blumhouse and Paramount have been trying to churn out new additions to the franchise almost every year. The last Paranormal Activity film, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, did not make box office mint and there’s some indication that audiences might be finally bored with the franchise’s found-footage gimmick. At the same time, the films are still quite cheap to produce and seem to bring in enough money to keep the franchise going; so we have no one to blame but ourselves.
This is an early report, of course, and could change over the course of the next year, but it sounds like director Greg Plotkin is pushing hard to get the film ready for October 2015. I think we should get a little nervous when it begins to sound like studios are forcing release dates, as it often means that films – even relatively simplistic ones like Paranormal Activity 5 – are going to wind up feeling rushed.
We will keep an eye on Paranormal Activity 5 news and let you know more when we hear anything. For now, I suppose it’s safe to say that we might see a new installment by the end of 2015.