Last year, Universal had a big budget-spasm and seemed to jettison just about every film it was developing under its deal with games giant Hasbro that wasn’t called Battleship. Among the casualties was a take on spooky spirit conjuring lark Ouija overseen by Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes company with McG attached to direct. But it has risen from the development grave thanks to Paranormal Activity.
How so? Well, Paranormal producer Jason Blum, who has made a name for himself developing low-budget horrors and thrillers, is now involved with the Ouija film after partnering up with Platinum Dunes’ Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form. According to Deadline, the concept has been seriously retooled from its blockbuster budget to a thrifty $5 million. The new price tag appealed to Universal (which had been threatened with a penalty if the movie wasn’t made within a certain deadline anyway) and it’s back on.
It’s not yet known whether McG is still involved in any way (we’d guess the various companies will prefer to go the **Project X **/ Chronicle route and hire a fresh, cheaper person to call the shots) or who has written the new script. We tried asking those questions on the office Ouija board, but all we got was blood running down the walls and a fire demon in the loo. You know: your average, every day occurrence at Empire Towers…