Paramount Pictures has taken U.S. rights to Paranormal Activity director Oren Peli‘s follow-up, Area 51, in what is said to be a high-seven-figures deal. The studio beat out rival bids from DreamWorks and Lionsgate.
IM Global CEO Stuart Ford, CAA, Incentive Filmed Entertainment chairman David Molner and attorneys Linda Lichter and Jamie Feldman closed the deal with the studio last week following a protracted negotiation process.
The in-demand film is an alien thriller that was fully financed by Incentive and the Aramid Entertainment Fund. The film tells the story of three teens whose curiosity leads them to the notorious Area 51 portion of Nellis Air Force Base in the Nevada desert.
Area 51 is in postproduction and it is understood Paramount is eager to schedule a release as soon as possible in 2010, according to Screen.
Paranormal Activity was made on a shoestring budget of about $15,000. It has gone on to earn more than $106 million in North America and is just beginning its overseas roll-out.
Sources, according to Variety, say Peli brought Area 51 in at a shade under $5 million.
