While most box office watchers are talking about “Hoppers,” which only had a 40% drop in its second weekend, “Reminders of Him” surprising with an $18M opening, and “The Bride” officially a megaton bomb, one underreported story from the weekend box office is the immense success of Ian Tuason’s “Undertone.”
Tuason’s film, which only cost $500,000 to produce and was picked up by A24 at last year’s Fantasia Film Festival, earned $9.3M in its opening bow. Turns out, Tuason isn’t done and plans to turn “Undertone” into a franchise.
The filmmaker tells Screen Rant that he already has plans for two more installments. “I have a trilogy in mind,” Tuason says, revealing that he and A24 are “working on” finding a potential path to make it happen.
That said, the trilogy won’t come next for Tuason, as he is currently set to direct the “Paranormal Activity” reboot.
“Undertone,” which I saw this weekend, is certainly an interesting experiment in minimalist horror, starring Nina Kiri as Evy, a paranormal podcaster drawn back into her dying mother’s house, who discovers unsettling recordings from a young pregnant couple that eerily mirror her own life. Director Ian Tuason leans heavily on sound design and atmosphere over traditional scares, with mixed results.
The ensemble cast also includes Adam DiMarco (“The White Lotus”), Michèle Duquet (“The Virgin Suicides”), Keana Lyn Bastidas (“The Hardy Boys”), Jeff Yung (“The Shrouds”), and Ari Millen (“Orphan Black”).
Is a trilogy actually a good idea? It will certainly test how far a minimalist horror premise can stretch.