De Palma on 'Paranormal Activity' Director Short List

Since Saw VII pulled an unwilling Kevin Greutert back into the fold after the sixth film, it left Paranormal Activity 2 without a director. Brief re-cap: Both horror franchises are unleashing their latest entries on October 22nd, and Greutert was failing up, from Saw VI to Paranormal Activity. Until Lionsgate invoked a contractual clause that kept him away from likely the bigger hit. So how is Paramount dealing with it? By going after big name directors. We'll see where it winds up, but one of the filmmakers in contention is apparently Brian De Palma. Sure, that would have meant more in 1985, but it's still an indication that the studio means business in this tug-of-war with with the House of Jigsaw and it points to something other than a $10,000 sequel, even though the studio will be financing a host of similar microbudgeted movies in the coming years. The Los Angeles Times drops two hefty names in the sequel derby - De Palma (The Untouchables, Blow Out, Dressed to Kill) and Akiva Goldsman, the writer and co-producer of A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code. Goldsman won't be directing - that's been decided already - but seriously, I didn't see anything like that coming. Perhaps a lot of us assumed the studio would go in on the cheap, and there are some directors looking for a big break as well, but it certainly doesn't sound like Paramount is just microwaving the sequel. Brad Anderson (Transsiberian) and Greg McLean (Wolf Creek) are also in the mix, but - and I say this as no supporter of Brian De Palma whatsoever - I think if he's interested, you make that work. Not that I expect greatness out of this sequel, but De Palma can call upon his history and make something that could be elementally superior to the other directors, just because he's made however many movies it is. He's missed the mark for, well, 20 years now, but I think if you get him back under the right conditions, he could deliver an effective thriller. They better move fast, though, because this does open in eight months and Saw VII is already in production, which also means Saw VII has almost wrapped production.

Comments

[J.Bradley]

Spielberg WAS the one who championed this, so maybe he really wants to nurture this franchise by getting good directors, so it really becomes something rather than just a very formulaic series.

[Tjei]

Now how about Cimino. Michael Cimino?