‘Paranormal Activity’ is Getting Turned Into a Stage Play & It’s a Great Decision

Paranormal Activity is heading to the stage over on the West End according to Deadline. Director and writer Oren Peli launched a six-film franchise and set the stage for a new wave of found-footage films. Now Simon Friend, the producer of the Broadway version of Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, holds the license from Paramount/Blumhouse to develop it into a West End play. And Levi Holloway from the horror Broadway Grey House is writing it for the stage.

The original Paranormal Activity tells the story of a young couple terrorized by a demonic presence. Micah, the boyfriend, buys a camera to record the weird occurrences in their home. Katie, the girlfriend, is consistently terrorized by the presence of the demon. There’s also the fact that Micah is annoyingly obtuse and just excited to catch something spooky on camera. And even though the sequels went down in quality, the first movie is iconic.

For many, making a West End production of something like Paranormal Activity doesn’t seem feasible. It’s found footage after all. But the first film is known for the bedroom being the stage of all of the core activity. That would transfer really easily to the stage as a play. There’s also the fact that plays know how to take advantage of ‘less is more.’ And as someone who has watched the stage version of The Woman in Black, I was absolutely astounded by how they took this small space and transformed it into hallways, a bog, a car, and more.

The only requirement that I would need for this stage play, is the return of OG actors Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat. Both were only paid $500 for the first movie, which is insane to think about, especially because the movie earned $194 million worldwide. And the franchise as a whole has made $890 million worldwide. I would even go as far as saying that the original actors could play the leads themselves in the stage play. It would certainly get long-time fans to come and watch it. And it would honor the hard work that both actors put into the first film itself. Period.