With ‘Paranormal Activity 5‘ set for a release date of October 24, 2014, you’d think progress would be moving forward on the film. Progress is being made, just possibly not as much as you would think. The filmmakers have just announced that they’ve gained new writers to pen the film (meaning we don’t have a script completed quite yet) and a new director as well!

So who do they have to give us another entry into this paranormal franchise? Well, the producers have signed Jason Pagan and Andrew Stark to pen the next installment. One of the big questions is if the film will be a direct continuation, a reboot, or a focus on another haunting entity?

You might be asking who these two writers are and you’d be right to ask that as these names probably aren’t familiar to you. Their only writing credit is for the upcoming science fiction found footage thriller ‘Almanac’. Upcoming as in the film is still in post production so we don’t really know how their written word translates to the big screen quite yet.

Untested writers are a risky proposal to continue on a franchise that has earned more than $718 million to date. Though to be fair, the original writer, Oren Peli, was also an unknown before he launched the initial ‘Paranormal Activity’ and its sequels to rave reviews.

With new writers on board, the producers are also testing out a new director for this film by handing the reins over to Gregory Plotkin. Another name you might question, but at least he’s had some experience in films and has worked as an editor and co-producer on the last 3 ‘Paranormal Activity’ films. He has also worked on the ‘Paranormal Activity’ Latino spin off, ‘The Marked Ones’.

With no idea of the plot quite yet, it’s hard to say too much about the film. What we do know is that you won’t have to wait for that October 24th release date to see more of the paranormal franchise! We’ll be seeing that spin off mentioned released on January 3rd of next year. I wonder if they they are using the franchise to launch the careers of upcoming directors or have the previous ones gotten too pricey to keep on board for these micro-budget films?

So what do you think? Are you eagerly awaiting the next set of releases or is this a film franchise you are happy to have a break from?

‘Paranormal Activity 5’ is slated to be released on October 24, 2014.

Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline