Paramount keep their hands on Peli
Paramount Pictures are keeping a tight hold on director Oren Peli as they gobble up the domestic distribution rights to Area 51. The studio locks on his latest project after the abundance of success over the ultimate sleeper hit Paranormal Activity that they managed to dip their hand into. The film is within the same vein as Paranormal Activity, the whole theme of ‘found footage’ taking place within a certain period of time as several teenagers who sneak towards the Area 51 base in Nevada.
Here’s more on the reactions of this pick up from Variety below:
Peli and Blum said they were “Happy to continue working with with agile and talented production, marketing and distribution teams at Paramount that made `Paranormal Activity’ such a remarkable success.”
Molner said the deal illustrated the fertile ground in creating moderately budgeted franchises that have become some of Hollywood’s biggest hits.
“These films show that real franchises can be successfully launched from the independent side of the business, not something the marketplace necessarily believed five years ago,” he said. “As financiers, we’re very lucky to create value in ownership with major distributors like Paramount Pictures and the enviable talents of Jason, Oren, and IM Global.”
Said IM Global’s Ford: “With the international distribution already set up on the film, bringing Paramount onboard after they did such distinguished work on `Paranormal Activity’ is the perfect finale, and most important piece in the jigsaw.”
When you first hear that this film is shot basically in the same form as Paranormal Activity, you would think that he’s recycling what has already worked for him but this comes before the huge wave of popularity over that film. For those of you who have seen Paranormal Activity, do you feel that the particular way that they shot and did the ‘found footage’ worked, or do you think they could have done something more with it? Do you think that Area 51 could hold up compared to his previous film?
