Jason Blum And James Wan Are Ready To Create A Horror Empire
Jason Blum and James Wan are merging their companies Blumhouse and Atomic Media into a horror powerhouse
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Jason Blum and James Wan are two of Hollywood’s top horror movie producers, and according to Variety, the pair is in advanced discussions to merge their respective production companies, Blumhouse and Atomic Monster. Should the merger go through, the move would create a horror empire over at Universal Pictures where Blumhouse currently has a first-look deal. Atomic Monster just concluded a similar deal with Warner Bros. over the summer after almost a decade.
The partnership between Jason Blum and James Wan would greatly increase the companies’ horror offerings, with Atomic Monster benefitting from Blumhouse’s existing infrastructure to further scale activities in film, television, and even video games. The primary goal for both companies is to considerably increase output from both sides. According to the New York Times, Blumhouse would release a minimum of eight horror movies in theaters annually, which is nearly double what the company typically delivers in any given year.
Jason Blum is currently the most successful horror movie producer in the industry, with his company Blumhouse Productions generating around $5 billion at the global box office thanks to blockbuster franchises like Halloween, The Purge, and Paranormal Activity. James Wan, of course, is the mastermind behind horror hits such as Saw and The Conjuring, and both of those films served as launchpads for incredibly lucrative franchises. Since 2004, the Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom director and Blumhouse have a combined box office of $11.6 billion.
For years, Jason Blum has built up his company by recognizing terrific ideas from talented filmmakers. He told the New York Times that he doesn’t have a single idea that he could make into a horror picture. James Wan, on the other hand, has been the brains behind several successful genre offerings including Dead Silence, Malignant, and The Nun. He indicated to the outlet that he has such a large number of ideas bouncing around in his head that it’s more than he can take on by himself.
News of the potential merger between Jason Blum and James Wan comes right on the heels of the announcement that former DC film boss Walter Hamada has been appointed to oversee Paramount Pictures’ upcoming line of horror movies. Beginning next year, Hamada will oversee all the studio’s genre offerings, which will consist of several mid-budget horror flicks releasing annually in both theaters and on Paramount+.
While working at Warner Bros. Discovery, Hamada produced dozens of horror titles including the Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street remakes, several entries in The Conjuring Universe, the 2017 adaptation of It, and Lights Out.
The horror business is clearly alive and well, and with Jason Blum and James Wan likely joining forces very soon, business is about to be booming. The duo’s respective companies Blumhouse and Atomic Monster recently partnered on the forthcoming flick M3gan, which arrives in theaters January 6, 2023, and centers around an artificial intelligence doll. We’re hoping that the upcoming feature is just the first of many collaborations between the two horror juggernauts.
