Following the confirmation earlier this month that a new reimagining of Paranormal Activity had secured a director, Paramount has confirmed that the new film will be coming to its streaming platform Paramount+, with a prequel to Stephen King‘s Pet Sematary also coming to the service. While the new Paranormal Activity was a project fans were aware of, the announcement of a new Pet Sematary project takes most fans by surprise. The new Paranormal Activity previously had a theatrical release date of March 4, 2022, while the new Pet Sematary does not have a release date. Paramount also confirmed that the upcoming A Quiet Place Part II will debut on the streaming service 45 days after its theatrical release.
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Jeff Buhler will write the script for the new Pet Sematary origin story, with Lorenzo di Bonaventura producing. The original King novel most recently earned a live-action adaptation in 2019, which was written by Buhler.
The new Paranormal Activity will be directed by Underwater‘s William Eubank and will be written by Christopher Landon, who has previously written four previous films in the series.
The original Paranormal Activity focused on a couple attempting to capture bizarre occurrences around their home, only for audiences to learn that Katie, played by actress Katie Featherston, had been the focus of otherworldly entities dating back to childhood. Over the course of five sequels, the films attempted to deviate from that core story, though it often found ways to circle back to the original connection between Katie and the supernatural. The series grew so popular and were so cheap to produce that they premiered on an almost annual basis, with all six films premiering between 2009 and 2015.
In Pet Sematary, after the Creed family relocates from Boston to rural Maine, they soon discover an ancient burial ground hidden deep in the woods near their new home. When tragedy strikes, the grief-stricken father is driven by the cemetery’s sinister power, setting off a perilous chain of events that unleashes an unfathomable evil with horrific consequences. Some secrets are best left buried in this twisted thriller.
Buhler previously teased that he had a number ideas on how to continue that franchise.
“We had discussions about possible follow-up films, and for the most part, everybody feels like we’ve told the story of the Creeds,” Buhler shared with ComicBook.com. “It’s difficult, there are ways to continue this story, this particular story, but it feels almost, the trajectory of this film feels like we flew the plane into the mountain a little bit. It just blows up.”
He added, “So a lot of the ideas that we’ve been batting around currently, recently, have all been about, more about digging into the mythology of the town, these rituals that children present, the mythology of the Micmac, the Wendigo, the cemetery, the origins, Jud’s life. So it looks like, I don’t want to promise anything, because we don’t know, we’re not even down the road on an idea yet.”
Stay tuned for details on the new Paranormal Activity and Pet Sematary films.
Are you looking forward to the new films? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!
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