Blumhouse and Atomic Monster are two of the biggest production houses in Horror movies. They’ve made films like Halloween (2018), The Nun, Annabelle: Creation, The Black Phone, and more. Their two leaders Jason Blum and James Wan are in talks to merge the two companies into one umbrella under Blumhouse. The new company will still work with their studio partner Universal Pictures. Here’s what Jason Blum had to say:
James is probably 70 to 80 percent artist and 30 to 20 percent business person, and I am the reverse. We really do complement each other, yin and yang, which is part of what makes this so exciting.
Blumhouse Productions has generated almost $5 billion in box office numbers with horror movies. They have the upcoming Exorcist trilogy, M3GAN, and had The Black Phone and Halloween Ends this past year. With massive success like that, there’s opportunity for growth. The company currently puts out between three and four movies a year, but Blum wants that number to go up to at least eight a year. They also want to continue their release slates on Peacock, the NBCUniversal streaming service.
James Wan had this to say about the merger:
It really allows me a bigger canvas to paint on, if you will. Universal is very supportive of filmmakers and brilliant at marketing. To have partners that trust you, that believe in you, that goes a long way.
The ongoing negotiations would see Jason Blum as the lead stakeholder in Blumhouse, with James Wan taking a considerable stake, and NBCUniversal being the third largest stakeholder.
Their deal with Universal runs out in 2024, at which point, they’ll have myriad options available to them.
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Source: New York Times
