In the wake of Battleship's thoroughly mediocre reception earlier this month, it seems insane for any studio to be moving ahead with another movie based on a board game-- and that goes double for Universal, which backed Battleship in the first place. But their Ouija movie is the only part of this mini-genre that actually seems to be moving forward properly. No, really, bear with me here.
Last August, probably around the time it became obvious to them that Battleship would be a giant albatross, the studio pulled the plug on Ouija, which was to be directed by McG and written by Tron: Legacy guys Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz-- clearly imagined as something as giant as Battleship. Then back in March the studio started moving forward with it again, bringing in Paranormal Activity producer Jason Blum brought on board to craft it as more of a low-budget horror effort. Paramount has made a fortune on the made-for-pennies Paranormal Activity franchise, and since Universal already paid for the rights to Ouija-- and would pay more to Hasbro to not make it-- why not plug it into a formula that's proven to work for very little cash?
Now they've taken one step further to cementing that low-budget horror feel-- Variety reports they've hired writer-directors Juliet Snowden, of the upcoming horror film The Possession, to write a new draft of the Ouija script-- though given the drastic changes on the project, I imagine they're writing something new entirely. Snowden and White will also direct, making it their first directing effort as a team, and Stiles's only directing credit. It's a bold move, but again, so much more right-headed than a blockbuster Ouija movie that you have to credit them for it. Universal is planning a release for Ouija sometime in 2013, and it seems pretty safe to assume you can look for it next October, right around the time of the next Paranormal Activity film.
