Paranormal Cashflow

This Weekend’s Releases

Anticipated films that are releasing this weekend.

Godzilla Minus One

We may have finally got the Godzilla film with a good story and characters from Japanese director Takashi Yamazaki (yes it is in Japanese). Being hailed as the best Godzilla since the original, it being called an intimate drama piece of post WW2 Japan disguised as a monster movie. But no fear, Godzilla is still a menace.

In postwar Japan, a new terror rises. Will the devastated people be able to survive… let alone fight back?

The Holdovers

This movie has already been released but has gotten so much praise I wanted to call it out while it is still in theaters.

A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.

Trailer Watch

FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA

WHAT A LOVELY DAY!!! George Miller is back directing a new edition to the epic dystopian post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max. The trailer looks incredible and Chris Hemsworth seems like he is having a blast not being Thor.

The Sympathizer

New HBO black comedy mini-series based on the novel by the same name from Park Chan-Wook (Oldboy, The Handmaiden). Robert Downey Jr. pulls a Nutty Professor and plays multiple roles in this - one of which looks like it’s Ron Weasley found crack.

Paranormal Cashflow: The Story of the Most Profitable Film of All Time

Those who were coming of age at the time of Paranormal Activity’s release like I was, probably remember getting a group together to see it, having your parents drop you off at the movies, seeing your crush there and not making eye contact with them all night. The film itself was much more successful than that evening was as Paranormal Activity is statistically most profitable movie ever released. The remarkable story of the film’s production might inspire you to pick up a camera.

The director Oren Peli was a video game designer living in San Diego who had never had any interest in making movies. He had never made a short film, touched a camera or editing software. The idea came to him in 2006 when he set up security cameras around his house after hearing some odd noises around his house. After watching the footage he thought, “it would make a great movie. I think a lot of people can relate to the question of what happens at night when you’re most vulnerable.”

So he set out to make a horror about a young couple whose home is invaded by a demonic presence at night using found footage. Despite having zero experience, Peli did everything except star in the film including directing, editing, sound mixing, casting. Preparing for these numerous roles took him about a year. In order to make the film seem as authentic as possible, he did not write a script and instead wanted the actors to improvise, even for auditions.

After casting the team, they retreated to Peli’s own home in San Diego to shoot the movie. The shoot only took one week to complete which consisted of Peli editing and including visual effects at night to show his actors in the morning. The film was not ready to be released for another year since Peli had to cut the film himself while working at his software developer job.

Since Peli was not ready to bet the barn on his side quest, he kept total budget at only $15,000. Since the premise of the film was to use raw footage, he did not have to pay for a lighting crew or any expensive technical equipment. Luckily the main actor was a camera operator in college and actually held the camera through most of the movie. Each actor was only paid $500 for the week and the crew consistent of his best friends and girlfriend keeping the crew cost at $0.

The film was only rejected at most festivals but shown at ScreamFest in 2007, where Jason Blum (from Blumhouse Production) became determined to distribute the film. Blum had previously been a part of a team of that passed on The Blair Witch Project in 1999, the previous low-budget-mega-box-office-success horror film. He was determined to not repeat his mistake and managed to get the film in the hands of Stephen Spielberg. Spielberg famously watched the film and was so frightened he returned the DVD in a trash bag claiming it was haunted.

Dreamworks studio immediately agreed to distribute the film but wanted Peli to reshoot the movie with a professional crew and on a larger budget. But after test screenings of Peli’s film resulted in people walking out of theaters out of fear, Dreamworks realized this was not necessary and released the film as it was. Such an unconventional film required a unique marketing approach. They began releasing the film in select college towns to build good word of mouth among kids on social media. The poster even provided a link for people to “demand” the film be brought to their town. This worked like a charm for the studio, building insane anticipation on the internet and resulted in students demanding the film be released in their town. Check out the infamous trailer they used to bring in audiences below.

Paranormal Activity went on to make $193 million worldwide on a $15,000 budget (excluding marketing) representing a return on investment of 650,000%. Naturally, this led to a number of sequels which Peli helped produce but never directed. After the monster success of Paranormal Activity, Jason Blum’s studio Blumhouse continued to focus on making low budget horror film like Insidious and Sinister which were made for under $3 million but were massively successful. The story of Oren Peli and Paranormal Activity’s massive success is a shining example of the fact that all you truly need is an idea and a camera.

Spotlight Film: Incendies

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