Project X has only been in cinemas for a week, but it has caused a stir Stateside with opening figures at a respectable $21m, and Warner Bros has already earmarked a seque l .
Screenwriter Michael Bacall has been roped in to draft a treatment for the sequel, which isn’t guaranteed a greenlight just yet. Teen party movies are nothing new, but it seems as if the found-footage element may have spiked the genre’s punch and given it a new lease of life.
Produced by Todd Phillips, the director behind comedy megahits The Hangover and Old School , Project X ‘documents’ one night in the lives of three high school seniors, who are anything but cool.
Originally made famous by The Blair Witch Project in 1999, the found-footage format has seen a steady increase in popularity recently, most notably in the horror genre: scare-fest Paranormal Activity is due to unleash a fourth instalment this year.
Chronicle also proved that the storytelling device could provide a surge of energy in a crowded superhero market.