Area 51

Oren Peli's 'Area 51' Secret is Revealed

Nov 11th 2009 3:05PM by: Alison Nastasi

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Unless you've been living in a shoebox, you have probably already heard rumblings about Oren Peli's (Paranormal Activity) latest project, Area 51. It was already announced that Room 101, Solana Films and Blumhouse Productions will be producing the film starring Reid Warner, Darrin Bragg and Ben Rovne. The film is currently in production and expected to hit theaters sometime in 2010. The story has been a secret aside from some minor details, but we do know that it centers around three teenagers whose curiosity leads them to the legendary Area 51 Air Force base in the Nevada desert. Like Paranormal Activity, the film will employ 'found footage' to tell the story and Peli will continue to work with undiscovered actors. Well, this wasn't enough info for the team at Latino Review, who recently uncovered some major plot details about Area 51 after getting their hot little hands on a "script/outline hybrid."

Here's what Levle had to say:

"The 'script' for Area 51 reads much like I imagine the 'script' for Paranormal Activity did. It's basically a scene-by-scene breakdown with a list of various props, actors and the general interactions between the actors and their surroundings. There is no written dialogue, but within the action descriptions are general ideas that the actors will be using to improvise their lines with on set. Unlike Paranormal Activity's single location, Area 51 is far more expansive in its setting."

He goes on to reveal some serious spoilers and offers his thoughts about the final product: "I'm hoping that the finished product is a bit more believable. . .but at this point the creative direction is best left to Oren. I'm optimistic that he can make lightning strike twice."

Head over to Latino Review for the full details and let us know what you think. Does Oren's 'documentary' style work for this one or have you had enough of the shaky cam experience?

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A Brief Chat with Oren Peli, Writer-Director of 'Paranormal Activity'

Oct 9th 2009 5:02PM by: Peter Hall

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(This interview was originally posted on Cinematical)

Two years ago a man named Oren Peli decided to make a movie. He didn't know exactly how, but he knew he had a good premise, and he knew he had some helpful friends, so he spent roughly $15,000, hired a few actors and then spent a mere seven days filming in his own home. What came out of that was Paranormal Activity, a haunted-house labor of love that barely made its way around the festival circuit before being purchased by DreamWorks (only after Steven Spielberg reportedly experienced some paranormal activity of his own after watching a DVD of the film by himself).

The studio's initial plan was to buy the film with the intent of having Peli remake it, but reactions to a test screening intended to attract new writing talent were so strong, the producers at DreamWorks decided that trying to bottle lightning twice was pointless. The film was slated for release in 2008, but got delayed due to an internal conflict between DreamWorks and Paramount. But studio politics couldn't hold the film back forever, not when calculated screenings at events like Fantastic Fest yielded monster buzz and sold out midnight showings.

Now after an unprecedented launch campaign in which fans literally got to demand that the film play near them, Paramount is ready to roll out Oren Peli's Paranormal Activity nationwide, a film I feel safe calling the scariest I've seen in years.

Cinematical: What is your background pre-Paranormal Activity? And how did you lead up to it?

Oren Peli: By trade, I am a software programmer, so I never really had any experience with movies before. I started out with Paranormal Activity.

So this was your very first stab at filmmaking?

Yes, pretty much, I never even made shorts or anything like that.

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