'Paranormal Activity' Team Sets Latino-Themed Horror Offshoot at Paramount (Exclusive)

Paramount

Paramount and the producers of Paranormal Activity are prepping a spinoff of sorts.

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The new project will reunite producers Jason Blum and Oren Peli with Christopher Landon, the writer of the second and third installments in the Paranormal franchise.

Landon will write and direct the project, described by sources as a “cousin” to the Paranormal movies but not a sequel, reboot or spinoff. The real kicker is that the movie will be Latino-themed. It will star a Latino cast and will tackle Catholic-based paranormal mythology. It will not, however, be in Spanish.

The aim is to make the micro-budgeted movie in the next several months.

Paramount potentially could have the movie ready for an early January 2013 slot. This past January, the studio released the Catholic-centered found-footage horror movie The Devil Inside; it was made for about $1 million and grossed $53 million domestically and $46 million internationally. (The three Paranormal movies have grossed more than $575 million. A fourth film is set for release in October.)

Latinos are a growing market for Hollywood studios. The Latino population in the U.S. sees movies at a higher rate than non-Latinos, and because they are heavily Catholic, religious-themed horror movies tend to play well in heavily Latino markets. The territories of Central and South America are also fertile grounds for these kinds of movies.

Steven Schneider will serve in a producer capacity on the project.

Landon was a writer on the Shia LaBeouf thriller Disturbia and made his feature directorial debut with 2011’s ensemble drama Burning Palms. He is repped by CAA, Mosaic and Bloom Hergott.

A Paramount rep did not respond to requests for comment.

E-mail: Borys.Kit@thr.com

Twitter: @Borys_Kit