Much like the way simplistic Ouija messages can be extrapolated into ghost stories lasting approximately 90 minutes in length with potential for sequels, Hasbro remains intent on turning the age-old game of pushing a planchette around a letter board into a movie. And while Hasbro once did much of that pushing itself, forcing the planchette to land on “McG” and “$100 million family-friendly supernatural adventure” until Universal got spooked and said it didn’t want to play anymore, Deadline reports that the studio has now stopped crying and agreed to try again with a 2013 release date. However, this time Hasbro has to cut $95 million from the budget, and quit making it spell out the names of directors who are too expensive.
The new, far more rational-in-the-sense-that-any-of-this-is Ouija board movie will still be produced under Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes shingle, but it’s now also being overseen by Jason Blum, whose low-overhead maneuvering on films like Insidious and the Paranormal Activity franchise will be emulated on Ouija’s new, relatively more miniscule $5 million budget. No word yet on what form this project's lingering spirit will now take, though the new Ouija is expected to be more of a thriller (but probably not a found-footage thriller, according to The Hollywood Reporter). Expect everything to become clear soon through an agonizingly slow reveal, until you get bored and decide to go watch TV instead.