CraveOnline: I know, of course. Everyone seems to agree Paranormal Activity 4 was a misstep. I know it was less popular than the previous ones but I didn’t realize how much anger there was towards it until The Marked Ones was coming out. Did you feel there were some missteps in 4?
Christopher Landon: Absolutely. I think all of us felt like, and there are a million reasons why it was a misstep, but ultimately we felt a sense of ownership over the failures of that movie. There were things in it that we’re proud of too. There were great things in that movie and great moments, but they didn’t come together as a whole. I think our biggest failure or misstep was asking so many questions with absolutely no answers. It was sort of like dropping our fans in the middle of a narrative wasteland and we were like, “Here you go, figure it out.”
Part of my job with this movie was to start answering questions again. We still like to parcel out new questions along the way because I think that’s what keeps things interesting, but we definitely wanted to start having some answers and really work to have a much, much more cohesive narrative this time.
For what it’s worth, I thought having Katie move in next door to a new family was a pretty good idea, so I don’t think it was all a wash.
No, it wasn’t. That’s what I mean to say. I thought there were some inventive moments in that film. I thought we did a lot right. It’s just that we did just enough wrong to where it started to push some people away. At the same time too, the other thing that we have to deal with is we’re five movies deep into a franchise. It is very, very difficult to sustain the kind of interest and excitement that you want to get from your fans. That’s why we just keep working as hard as we can.
Not just because, I’ve mentioned this a couple times now in a few interviews, we’re not out for a big cash grab. We’re really out to keep this story and this series alive because we genuinely love it. Even the studio, where you would expect them to be in it for other reasons, but we have so many fun, crazy, passionate story meetings with the studio where sometimes we’re yelling at each other. We get so into it, but it’s only because we care.
Do you think found footage is in any danger of running out?
You know, it’s funny. I don’t think found footage is in danger of running out. I think it’s in that process now where I think we’re going to obviously start to see more and more movies that are tackling different genres through that lens. I think you’re going to see more comedies. I think we’re going to see a lot of sci-fi movies. I don’t think it’s going away entirely.
Sometimes it reminds me of when reality TV first really hit and was growing. There was a lot of pushback and people saying, “Oh, it’s going to go away, it’s going to go away.” But it didn’t go away. It just changed a lot. That’s kind of where I see it going because there’s a thing that’s happened in our culture, a thing called YouTube which has completely changed the way that we experience movies because people are out there making stuff all the time and capturing moments, so there’s a certain language that I think we’ve adopted. So I think that the found footage format connects to that. I think it’s very relatable to people, even if you’re not necessarily making a “found footage” movie. I think the style of it connects with the audience in a way that traditional movies don’t.
Are you in process on Paranormal Activity 5 or working on anything outside the Paranormal franchise?
I actually am working on something outside the franchise right now for Paramount. I am about to go off and start shooting a movie for them called Scouts Vs. Zombies which is sort of a fun horror-comedy/action movie that I’m really excited about.
Is that an original or based on something?
It’s an original. I have just finished a rewrite on the script but it’s an original story. It’s not based on a comic book or anything else.
Did you write the first draft?
No, no, no. I just did the latest draft. There have been a few writers before me.
So have you inherited this project and now you’re writing and directing?
Yeah, it was something that Paramount had and they’ve tried to get it up and running a couple times. I think after I finished The Marked Ones and they saw how comfortable I was with the horror and comedy stuff that they said, “Oh, let’s have him take a look at it.” I read the script and I loved it. It was really, really funny and oddly very sweet.
There’s a Goonies quality to the project which I fell in love with. It just needed to be punched up. It needed bigger set pieces. It needed a few more scares and needed to get pushed into more of a hard R kind of territory because ultimately I think the people that are going to see a zombie movie want to see some blood and some other stuff. That was really the work that I did to the script but its heart and the core of the story and the characters are still there which is the stuff that I fell in love with.
Are you auditioning kids right now?
Yeah, I’m in the process of auditioning right now.
Looking for unknowns, or considering any names?
You know, it’s not really so much names or unknowns. I’m really looking for the best actor and the person that really fits the character best, so I’m looking at both. I love breaking new talent and I’ve gotten spoiled working on all these Paranormal movies because we get to find these people who for all intents and purposes are unknowns. They’re kind of out there in the world and they’re all so talented. I’m so proud of the cast that I have in The Marked Ones. The whole cast, but specifically the kids who are so good and so natural and charismatic. It’s fun to break new people but we’ll see with Scouts.
Did you leave Paranormal Activity 5 in good hands?
Paranormal 5 is in Greg Plotkin’s hands and Greg has edited all of the movies with the exception of the first. He is one of the most talented, bright people I know and I think he’s going to kill it.
Lastly, you wrote Blood and Chocolate before the whole Twilight Saga made vampires and werewolves a romantic thing. Do you think you were ahead of the curve there?
You know, everyone aside, all the other filmmakers, that was one of my disappointments because the script that I wrote for them was actually a really, really, really fun movie. It was a teen movie. It was set in high school. It was rewritten to a point where you really couldn’t recognize anything that I had done. I just got credit on the movie because I was the first writer.
There was a girl and there was a werewolf still.
Yeah, that stuff was there but ultimately I wasn’t personally thrilled with the direction they took that movie in.
You said yours was fun. They certainly went in the ultra serious direction.
Yeah, they went ultra serious. Like I said, it was just a very different movie, different project. To some degree I guess they were ahead of the curve.
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline and the man behind Best Episode Ever and The Shelf Space Awards. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
