Blumhouse Merging With James Wan's Atomic Monster for Huge Horror Movie Production Company
In a surprise move, Jason Blum's Blumhouse production company, the home of Insidious, The Purge, and Get Out, is set to merge with filmmaker James Wan's Atomic Monster, the producers of Malignant, Lights Out, and the upcoming M3GAN. The New York Times brings word of the two companies joining forces, revealing that Wan will go on to "hold a substantial ownership stake in Blumhouse," with the company maintaining its relationship with Universal Pictures (with their current distribution deal expiring in summer 2024) while Atomic Monster will become a label of Blumhouse. Wan will also continue to produce the franchises that he has set up at Warner Bros. which includes The Conjuring movies and Aquaman.
"I don't have one idea to turn into a horror movie," Blum told the outlet. "Not one. I built a business by recognizing great ideas from other people." Wan added: "I have so many ideas – so many ideas – more than I can handle by myself...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 outlet notes that Wan has ambitions to expand their partnership beyond horror films and extend into horror video games plus "podcasts, live events and perhaps merchandise."
The biggest news in this article beyond the merging of these two horror movie powerhouses are the plans that Jason Blum wants to roll out for the future. According to the outlet, Blum is eager to up the company's theatrical feature films per year to "at least" eight horror films. That is in addition to the horror movies that they produce for NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock and the TV shows that they produce.
For reference, in 2022 Blumhouse's wide releases in movie theaters have included the Firestarter reboot, Halloween Ends, and The Black Phone, with a smattering of movies release direct to Netflix, Peacock, and in smaller releases as well. To expand their scope to eight or more horror films per year will be no small task, but the model that made Blumhouse famous is ripe for one to pump out scary treats for audiences at an elevated pace, and James Wan's creativity will no doubt contribute to that as well.
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