After the phenomenal success of the first two instalments of the Paranormal Activity franchise, Paramount have green-lit the second sequel, with a release date of October 21st 2011 planned.

The two previous films in this series were somewhat divisive, but did fantastic business at the box office, proving that audiences will always enjoy a good old-fashioned scare to keep them awake at night. Although the “found footage” style of film making does not appeal to everyone, the Paranormal Activity films have proved their effectiveness, so expect more of the same from creator Oren Peli, who will undoubtedly be involved with the third movie.

It will be interesting to see where the writers take the story next, as the second films attempt to fill the holes in the story of the first can be seen as undermining the mystery surrounding its mythology. Whether this will be set around the same characters or will transplant the phenomena to new ones remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure – this will perform in the all-important area of ticket sales.

No other details are available as yet, but this is exciting news for fright fans, and come October 2011, expect to see plenty of audience members leaving the cinema claiming not to be scared – but sleeping with the lights on for weeks…