# Paranormal Activity

> An Eventful demand campaign helped a horror film reach $193 million worldwide.

- Owner: Oren Peli (writer-director); Paramount Pictures (US distributor)
- Kind: Film
- Sector: Entertainment
- Seed date: 2007-10-14
- Peak proxy date: Week of Oct 23, 2009
- Date basis: Proxy date; not a directly measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 69 (Viral, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Scarcity drop, Underdog, Platform jump, Press loop

## Summary

After a festival premiere, Paramount used fan-site screenings, an audience-reaction trailer and Eventful requests to expand the film. Twitter and Facebook carried viewer reactions. It beat Saw VI to No. 1 and grossed about $193 million worldwide.

## Timeline

- 2007-10-14 — Oren Peli (Box office) — Peli premiered Paranormal Activity at Screamfest.
- Mar 2008 — DreamWorks (Box office) — DreamWorks reconsidered its remake after frightened viewers walked out of a test screening.
- Sep 2009 — Telluride viewers (X) — Telluride viewers posted reviews and tweets after a free outdoor screening.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/paranormal-activity

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Paranormal Activity.” Case HIS-01220. Spread Score v1.2: 69/100. Updated 2026-10-22. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01220