There are major developments being made in the horror genre right now. For example, Walter Hamada was recently placed in charge of the horror content being produced at Paramount. Now it looks like Jason Blum and James Wan could be making the next big deal in the genre. Specifically, it’s been reported that both James Wan and Jason Blum are in “advanced talks” to merge their individual companies Atomic Monster and Blumhouse as one major business.
As revealed by Variety, this would create what they call a “mega house of chills and thrills” at Universal Pictures. Furthermore, they’ve elaborated that “Blumhouse, known for its low-budget approach to terror, is currently under a first look deal with Universal, which would extend to Atomic Monster as long as the deal closes.” They further noticed that this follows after “Wan’s first-look deal with Warner Bros. ended earlier this year,” having lasted “nearly a decade.”
Additionally, via The New York Times, James Wan delivered the following statement regarding his excitement for the deal:
“We really do complement each other, yin and yang, which is part of what makes this so exciting.”
Furthermore, they also had details about how this merger would work. If the deal goes through, “the parties expect that Atomic Monster and Blumhouse will continue to operate as separate labels, with each maintaining its own creative autonomy and brand identity,” as noted by Variety. Additionally, they continue, “Atomic Monster is expecting to utilize the existing Blumhouse infrastructure to further scale their activities in film, TV and new content areas. The idea behind the alliance is to increase the output from each side. They also hope to expand into horror-related games, live entertainment and audio.”
As an example for how they hope to “increase the output from each side,” it was noted that Jason Blum is “pushing for Blumhouse to make at least eight horror movies for release in theaters each year, up from the three or four it has historyically delivered.” He also wants to take advantage of NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, with “another slate of horror flicks.” They further added that “Blumhouse also makes television series.”
Hopefully we’ll have more details about this merger and what it means for both companies in the near future. Until then, this certainly seems like an exciting new era for both Jason Blum and James Wan. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for more updates regarding this Blumhouse and Atomic Monster merger as we have them.