'Paranormal Activity' writer says seventh film will 'reinvigorate this franchise'

Tom Butler
·Editor, Yahoo Entertainment UK
·2 min read
HOLLYWOOD, CA - OCTOBER 22: Producer Christopher Landon attends "Screamfest" closing night screening of Paramount Pictures' "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension" at TCL Chinese 6 Theatres on October 22, 2015 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Vincent Sandoval/WireImage)
Producer Christopher Landon attends "Screamfest" closing night screening of "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension", 2015. (Vincent Sandoval/WireImage)

Filmmaker Christopher Landon has shot down reports that he’s writing the script for the seventh Paranormal Activity film, which is slated for release in 2022.

It had been widely reported that Landon, who wrote Paranormal Activity 2, Paranormal Activity 3, Paranormal Activity 4, and wrote and directed 2014’s Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, was writing the seventh instalment.

The 45-year-old director of Happy Death Day confirmed on Twitter that he was indeed working on a new entry in the found footage franchise, but said that he is “NOT writing the script nor am I directing the new movie”.

“I am helping my friends and co-collaborators at Paramount set a new course for the franchise,” he clarified, before adding in a second tweet: “I am eager and excited to hand the reigns [sic] over to a fresh filmmaker who will undoubtedly reinvigorate this franchise.”

His rebuttal comes off the back of some widely circulated quotes from Jason Blum, the producer of the Paranormal Activity films, who described Landon as the “showrunner” of the series.

Talking with The Evolution of Horror, Blum said: “We are doing a new Paranormal Activity. We have Chris Landon, who wrote almost all of them, he directed one of them, he’s really kind of the showrunner of the Paranormal Activity series, and he’s coming up with Paranormal Activity 7, which is not the title of the movie, but it is the seventh Paranormal Activity.”

Paranormal Activity's Oren Peli says he won't direct again
A still from Paranormal Activity. (Paramount)

Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions produced the original Paranormal Activity, written and directed by Oren Peli, and released in 2009. Made for just $15,000, it grossed around $193.5 million, making it one of the most profitable movies ever made.

Sequels followed in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2015.

Paranormal Activity 7 is slated for release in 2022.