Paranormal Activity Stage Play in Pre-Production

Since 2007, Paramount’s Paranormal Activity movies have been scaring audiences straight time and time again. For the series’ next big step, it’s jumping over to the other kind of theater in the form of a stage play.

Per the Hollywood Reporter, the franchise has been licensed out to producer Simon Friend, who plans to bring the adaptation of (presumably) the original 2007 hit to the West End theatre circuit. Adapting films for the stage is something he’s quite experienced with, as he’s done it for both West End and Broadway with Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and Yann Martel’s Life of Pi (the latter of which won three Tonys earlier this year). The play is already said to be in early development, with Levi Holloway, scribe of the 2019 thriller play Grey House, brought on board to pen the adaptation.

Friend and Holloway may have a challenge with their plans to bring this particular franchise to the theatre. The Paranormal Activity franchise has spanned seven movies, all of them realized through being presented as found footage. It’s part of what’s given the series its longevity up to this point, and it’ll be interesting to see how (or if) the play version attempts to make that work in any way. Granted, it helps that the original Paranormal Activity film stars a very small cast of about five people, with the entire thing hinging on the performances of the two leads, Katie and Micah (played respectively by Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat in the movie).

Until the actual Paranormal Activity play gets a start date, you can tide yourself over with the films, which are currently all available over on Paramount+. There’s also the Unknown Dimension: The Story of Paranormal Activity documentary available on streaming and YouTube.

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