Jason Blum and James Wan Rename Their Company

Two years after the merger of Blumhouse and Atomic Monster, horror maestros Jason Blum are James Wan are renaming their company. Blumhouse Atomic Monster is no more. In its place is Blumhouse Atomic. Blumhouse and Atomic Monster will sit as separate labels underneath the larger company, with their respective teams developing movies and TV shows. “When we merged our companies, we believed the whole would be greater than the sum of its parts, and that is exactly what has happened,” said Blum, who touted partner Wan for creating hit franchises The Conjuring, Insidious and Saw. “We have the output of a studio with the creative freedom and financial discipline of an independent company, and more opportunities than ever to take these stories beyond the theater and into television, games and live experiences.” The rebranding comes after the combined company’s films have brought in $2.5 billion in box office receipts since the merger, against $330 million in production budgets. That haul has been led by the $525 million global tally for Obsession (which the company boarded after Focus Features acquired the indie production), The Conjuring: Last Rites (nearly $500 million globally) and Backrooms ($400.6 million globally). “The future of horror comes from new voices, and Blumhouse Atomic gives us more ways to find them and support them for the long haul,” said Wan. “I got my start with a small film and people willing to take a chance on it, so creating those opportunities for others is personal to me. Working with filmmakers like Kane Parsons, Curry Barker, Josh Giuliano and Dylan Clark is a big part of that. We want to give them the freedom to make something distinctive and build relationships that last beyond one film.” Indeed, Backrooms and Obsession sparked an arms race among studios for new filmmakers who could make an outsized impact on smaller budgets. Earlier this year, Blumhouse Atomic tapped Sam Zimmerman as as SVP, development and acquisitions, to oversee a genre slate of projects under $5 million. It also signed a first-look with horror producers Divide/Conquer to focus on high concept genre films that can be made for a price. It also landed Barker’s first post-Obsession movie deal for an unknown project at Universal in a major coup, and has new versions Paranormal Activity, Blair Witch Project and Saw (with Wan producing after the company bought back into the Lionsgate franchise). Coming up, the Blumhouse Atomic slate includes River, The Revenge of La Llorona, The Exorcist: Martyrs, Anything But Ghosts, Paranormal Activity, Molepeople, Blair Witch, Sleepover and Seasons.