From Jason Blum (Insidious, Sinister) and Josh Gates (Destination Truth), Stranded is the new Syfy reality series that uses the same stripped-down first-person method from Paranormal Activity to document an unconventional and terrifying paranormal and psychological experiment, in which participants are stranded at haunted location for a week and must record the entire experience themselves.  Each of the six hour-long episodes features the self-recorded footage of a group of everyday paranormal enthusiasts, combined with strategically-placed security cameras at each location.

During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, executive producer Jason Blum talked about how Stranded came about and why he thought it was a great fit for what he’d already done on the narrative side, the process of selecting the individuals and locations for the show, how he got some fun ideas for future movies while they were scouting possible haunted locations, and where his love for genre and horror started.  He also talked about how he expects Paranormal Activity 5 to go into production in middle to late Spring for an October release, why he and the film’s partners thought there was further story to be explored for Insidious 2, what made him want to collaborate with Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story, Glee) on a modern-day remake of The Town that Dreaded Sundown, that he hopes Area 51 will be released soon, and that he’s not currently juggling quite as many projects as IMDB would lead you to believe.  Check out what he had to say after the jump. 

The new Syfy reality series Stranded, which debuted on February 27^th, documents an unconventional and often terrifying paranormal and psychological experiment.  Each episode features the self-recorded footage of a diverse group of every-day paranormal enthusiasts who are left stranded at one of the most haunted locations in America and record the entire experience with hand-held cameras creating an unscripted first-hand account of their stay.

While we will share what executive producer Jason Blum had to say about the new show next week, we did want to share his updates on some of his current and upcoming feature films.  Blum told Collider that he expect Paranormal Activity 5 to go into production in middle to late Spring for an October release and that he hopes that franchise will remain ongoing, why he and the film’s partners thought there was further story to be explored for Insidious 2, what made him want to collaborate with Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story, Glee) on a modern-day remake of The Town that Dreaded Sundown and why he thinks that will appeal to audiences, that he hopes Area 51 will be released soon, and that he’s not currently juggling quite as many projects as IMDB would lead you to believe.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

AMC is adding aliens to their collection of meth dealers, zombies and ad men with a new series, Area 51.  With Breaking Bad and Mad Men approaching the end of their runs, the network is keen to develop Annie Jacobsen’s best-selling book about the secretive military installation.  The book features a series of interviews with former servicemen employed on the base and examines the myths surrounding the classified zone.  The Walking Dead executive producer Gale Anne Hurd is set as the EP on Area 51, which will be written by The Good Wife’s Todd E. Kessler; Jacobsen will also co-produce.  Hit the jump for more declassified details on Area 51.

Hitting theaters Friday is Paul, the new film from Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, who previously starred in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. In the film, the comedy duo plays British nerds road tripping across the US after attending Comic-Con. But, when they come across a wisecracking, chain-smoking, dirty-talking alien named Paul, their cross-country trek becomes a run from government operatives who want to dissect their new friend. To promote the film Universal Pictures flew journalists out to Nevada to visit the infamous Area 51 and talk to Pegg, Frost, and director Greg Mottola about their raucous, geeky comedy.

Today we have our interview with Greg Mottola where he tells us about how difficult it was to work with Collider.com editor Steve Weintraub (who was an extra in the film), discusses his fear of inter-dimensional lizard people, describes how Woody Allen introduced him to his wife, and much more.  Hit the jump to watch:

Spanish-language director Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego has stepped in to replace Trevor Cawood at the helm of the “found footage” sci-fi flick Apollo 18.  As we previously reported, the film, produced by Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted), centers on the “What if?” scenario of NASA launching an 18th Apollo mission and that mission, covered-up until now, discovered extraterrestrial life.  According to Heat Vision, “the majority of the story takes place in the rocket in between the Earth and the Moon.”

The Weinstein Company, who picked up the project earlier this month, is racing to get the film shot and into theaters by early March so that it will beat Area 51, another “found footage” sci-fi film directed by Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity). Heat Vision reports that the pace was too fast for Cawood, who worked on the special effects for the The Matrix sequels and was set to make his feature directing debut on Apollo 18.  Lopez-Gallego, who previously helmed the award-winning King of the Hill, will make his English-language debut with the film.

Before getting to speak with writer-director Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity) on the red carpet at this year’s Scream Awards, I was told he was pretty guarded when talking about future projects.  They were not wrong.  That’s because while Peli was more than happy to talk about his involvement in Paranormal Activity 2 and whether or not the films could become a franchise like Saw, when I started asking him questions about his follow up film, Area 51, he immediately started to stonewall me.  I’ve interviewed a number of people over the last few years and most are willing to at least acknowledge their next project…not Peli.

However, while he wouldn’t tell me anything on Area 51, we did talk about whether or not he’s willing to direct something he didn’t write, is he going to only work in the studio system, could he see a Paranormal Activity 3 next Halloween, and is he writing other projects.  Hit the jump watch what he had to say.  As usual, I’ve time indexed the interview so you can watch the parts that interest you.

According to BFDMemo, Paramount Pictures has picked up the distribution to director Oren Peli’s Area 51, the highly anticipated follow-up to this year’s box office smash, Paranormal Activity.  As previously reported on numerous occasions, Paranormal Activity is the most profitable film of all time, pulling in more than $106 million at the box office on only a budget of $11,000.

BFD notes “Peli had a much larger budget to work with on this extraterrestrial tale than he did for his ghost story, as sources said he brought the film in at a shade under $5 million.”  The story continues that Area 51 will employ the same “found-footage” device of Paranormal Activity as it follows three teens whose curiosity brings them to the infamous secret military base of sci-fi lore.  While no release date has been set, the film almost certainly debut sometime in 2010.  Peli’s next film after Area 51 will be another installment of Paranormal Activity which Paramount will also distribute.

With “Paranormal Activity” trickling its way into theaters over the past few weeks for midnight shows, and garnering some impressive word-of-mouth and ticket sales per theater numbers, helmer Oren Peli is ready to start production on his next project focused around the mythological Area 51 base.  More of the new scaremeister’s sci-fi venture after the jump.