Blumhouse Confirms Their Next Big Horror Franchises

By Adam Barnhardt

Things are looking up for Blumhouse Productions. After merging with James Wan's Atomic Monster production house, the studio has become one of the biggest horror outfits in Hollywood. As such, Blumhouse boss Jason Blum took the stage at CinemaCon 2023 on Wednesday to tout the company's slate, including pictures he feels can launch franchises for the studio. According to Blum, both M3GAN and The Black Phone have the ability to become tentpoles for Blumhouse, saying "hopefully we'll see many M3GANs and Black Phones to come."

Both films have already entered talks for sequels after earning sizable box office hauls against modest production budgets. "There's already a lot of conversation, a lot of pressure being put on it," Black Phone helmer Scott Derrickson told us last August. "I mean, the movie cost $18 million, and it's going to ultimately make probably $160-170 million worldwide. So they want another one. Of course, they do."

What will M3GAN 2 be about?

Little has been revealed about the sequel of the viral sensation other than the fact it will reunite director Gerard Johnstone and writer Akela Cooper.

"Well, I can't say too much about those sorts of things. All I can say is that I'm here in L.A. and been thinking about it, working on it, and I'm just catching up with them this week to talk about it and do a debrief," Johnstone confirmed to ComicBook.com in March. "It's really important to do a debrief on the first movie, like a post-game analysis, and look at what worked and how we can do it again. I mean, Jesus Christ, it's difficult to replicate the success. No one was expecting that, so it's daunting, but exciting at the same time."

The film is described, "M3GAN is a marvel of artificial intelligence, a life-like doll programmed to be a child's greatest companion and a parent's greatest ally. Designed by brilliant toy-company roboticist Gemma (Get Out's Allison Williams), M3GAN can listen and watch and learn as she becomes friend and teacher, playmate and protector, for the child she is bonded to. When Gemma suddenly becomes the caretaker of her orphaned 8-year-old niece, Cady (Violet McGraw, The Haunting of Hill House), Gemma's unsure and unprepared to be a parent. Under intense pressure at work, Gemma decides to pair her M3GAN prototype with Cady in an attempt to resolve both problems -- a decision that will have unimaginable consequences."  

M3GAN is now streaming on Peacock while The Black Phone can be seen on Prime Video.

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