Syfy Films Buys 'The Paranormalists' from 'Monsters vs Aliens' Writer-Director

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Rob Letterman

Syfy Films has closed a deal to acquire The Paranormalists, a supernatural found footage movie pitch that animator-turned-live-action filmmaker Rob Letterman will write and direct.

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Universal-based Imagine Entertainment is producing the project, whose distinction in the trendy shaky-cam genre will be an injection of a quirky tone, fitting for someone whose resume includes writing and directing Monsters vs Aliens and Shark’s Tale for DreamWorks Animation and directing the Jack Black-starring version of Gulliver’s Travels.

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The story details are being kept under lock and key but it does involve a haunted house which is entered by a group of men and women intent on debunking the presence of spirits. As they say, things don’t go as planned.

Brian Grazer will produce and Kim Roth and Sarah Bowen will serve as executive producers for Imagine.

Syfy Films is a newly-created label from Universal and Syfy to make low-budget genre movies. Paranormalists is the second project to be set up at the company this year after Day 38. That project is also a found footage movie being produced by McG and his Wonderland Sound & Vision banner.

Syfy’s senior vp of production Gregory Noveck will oversee the project on behalf of the studio

Letterman, who was to have directed the Stretch Armstrong movie project when it was set up at Universal, is repped by WME.