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Over One Million
Fans Demand Paranormal Activity I Paranormal
Activity Demand Prompts Full Schedules Around The Country
Lining Up for 'Paranormal Activity'
By Allen Salkin It was shades of Blair Witch Thursday night outside a midnight screening for the low-budget horror movie “Paranormal Activity.” In 1999, when “The Blair Witch Project” had its initial run at the Angelika Cinema on Houston Street, the sidewalks around the theater were choked with long lines of those wanting to be among the first to see it. A few blocks east on Houston Street, a similar line snaked out of the Sunshine Cinema last night for a one-night-only engagement of “Paranormal Activity,” another horror film made for next to nothing which has nevertheless built a huge word-of-mouth and Internet following after just a few festival screenings. (I have lived around the corner from the Sunshine since it opened and have never seen a line even half as long and this was at 10 p.m., two hours before showtime.) A manager at the Sunshine said those who attended the screening had heard about it in the last few days via email lists they were on, either horror fan lists or another list compiled by Paramount Pictures, the film’s distributor. The manager, who requested anonymity because he had not received permission to speak from the Sunshine’s public relations representatives, said he had been getting calls about the screening for days from those wanting tickets. “People were very excited,” he said. “They were calling saying how do I get in?” “Paranormal Activity,” is opening Friday with midnight screenings in 13 college towns, but there is no announced plan yet to open in New York. Paramount is trying to market the film by asking people request on the Internet it be shown in their city. Theater owners may soon be heading to the film’s Web site to request it themselves. “We had a lot of popcorn being sold,” the Sunshine manager said.
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