Halloween is nowhere near, but horror fans are still being gifted one of those king-sized treats today. A sequel to Paranormal Activity and a prequel to Pet Sematary are in the works and are set to debut on the new streaming service Paramount+.
The platform, which was officially unveiled to investors earlier today, is ViacomCBS’ rebranding of its unsuccessful streaming service CBS All Access, and the company is clearly trying to get off on the right foot with viewers who yearn for a good scare. Both of these clicks are being developed by Paramount’s division Paramount Players, which intends to deliver four to six films to Paramount+ each year (via Variety).
The studio hasn’t provided much information about the films themselves, but they’re calling the seventh edition of the Paranormal Activity franchise a “new, unexpected chapter” in the beloved mockumentary lineage. It will be directed by Underwater maestro Will Eubank, written by Christopher Landon, and co-produced by Jason Blum (Get Out, Ma) and Oren Peli, who directed the original Paranormal Activity.
Meanwhile, the Pet Sematary prequel is an origin story for the Stephen King classic, which was originally adapted for film in 1989 and then again in 2019. Paramount+ isn’t offering up any details about the plot, but Lorenzo di Bonaventura will produce it based on a script by Jeff Buhler.
In addition to those two potential blockbusters, a new thriller called The In Between is set to debut on Paramount+. It’s about a teenage girl who survives a car crash that kills her boyfriend, and then she begins to believe that her fallen love is trying to contact her from beyond the grave. The film will be directed by Arie Posin (The Chumscrubber, The Face of Love) and stars Joey King, Kyle Allen, John Ortiz and Kim Dickens.
There’s currently no timeline for when these films will actually see release, but the assumption is sometime within the next year. Paramount+ as a service will officially launch on March 4th, and the platform is already off to a strong start with reboots of Frasier, Rugrats, The Fairly Odd Parents, Reno 911!, and Beavis and Butt-Head. They’re also launching a docu-series about Dave Grohl and his mom.
