Paranormal Activity will soon be haunting Broadway.
After several successful runs in other cities, a show based on the found footage horror franchise is headed to the Great White Way. The show, titled Paranormal Activity – A New Story Live on Broadway, was written by Levi Holloway and directed by Felix Barrett. Rather than adapt one of the movies directly, it follows another couple engaged in a similar struggle with mysterious supernatural forces.
(Not adapting the original film exactly also allows them to avoid having long stretches where the characters are just sleeping in bed while they’re observed by surveillance cameras which would not necessarily be the most captivating thing to watch unfolding on stage.)
Paranormal Activity (2007)”/>Paramount
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Hit movies have a mixed record as fodder for Broadway shows. Some of the biggest musicals in history — like The Producers and The Lion King — were based on popular films. But some of the biggest flops — like the infamous Carrie: The Musical — were as well.
Shows running currently on Broadway based on films include The Lost Boys, Aladdin, and Moulin Rouge! There’s also a Stranger Things play, The First Shadow, which is a prequel to the hit television series (and features plenty of spooky ghostly ambiance of its own).
Paranormal Activity is one of the most profitable film franchises in history. The original film, about a couple who believes their home may be haunted and begin filming their bedroom at night, was made for roughly $15,000 and wound up grossing almost $200 million worldwide. It spawned six sequels, the most recent of which (Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin) went straight to streaming on Paramount+ in 2021. In addition to this Broadway show, it has also inspired comic books and video games.
Here is the Paranormal Activity play’s official synopsis:
James and Lou move from Chicago to London to escape their past, but they soon discover that places aren’t haunted, people are… With an original story inspired by the film franchise, Paranormal Activity reimagines the modern ghost story with an intimacy that only live theatre can provide.
Paranormal Activity – A New Story Live on Broadway officially premieres on September 15, with previews starting on August 14. The show will run for 20 weeks at the August Wilson Theatre.
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