As Blumhouse Productions celebrates 15 years of redefining modern horror, studio head Jason Blum is looking back, and forward. The man behind M3GAN, The Invisible Man, and The Black Phone has built an empire on scares that deliver both box office success and cultural impact.
But, even horror legends have regrets, and Blum recently opened up about one of his biggest… missing out on The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
“We were in the mix. The deal isn’t closed, but we probably won’t get it,” Blum told Variety. The outlet reported that A24, with Glen Powell among the producers, is the frontrunner to bring Leatherface back to life.
Though Blumhouse won’t be the ones revving up the chainsaw, Blum admitted the appeal was strong. “I like taking IP that people are cynical about and turning expectations on their head.”
That mindset has served Blum well before, just look at Halloween (2018). The collaboration between Blumhouse, David Gordon Green, and Jamie Lee Curtis brought Michael Myers back in brutal fashion.
While the trilogy’s momentum waned over time, it was still a massive win for horror fans. Blum’s contract for that franchise may be up, but he isn’t ruling out another return to Haddonfield anytime soon. “We don’t own the rights anymore. I had a three-picture deal,” he explained. “I would do another Halloween movie.”
So what’s next for Blumhouse’s brand of terror? It looks like they’re about to dive into another beloved horror juggernaut with Saw. Details are still under wraps, but Blum seems determined to do the long-running franchise justice.
“It’s really hard to make 10 movies in a franchise—I don’t take that away from the original series’ producers. And I’m grateful to them for allowing us to continue,” he said. “My creative outlook is what I always preach: get the people who made the magic in the first place more involved. James Wan [the original director] will be hugely involved. That’s how we’re going to reinvent it.”
And even with Saw now under the Blumhouse umbrella, Blum’s wish list isn’t getting any shorter. “Friday the 13th and Freddy Krueger, those are my two white whales,” he admitted. Unfortunately, both Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street are tied up in complicated rights situations.
But that hasn’t stopped him from trying. “We’re always haggling. I make a run at them every day. I will never give up the quest,” Blum said. “And if they make one without me, I’ll chase the next movie.”
Whether or not Blumhouse ever gets its hands on Leatherface, Jason Voorhees, or Freddy Krueger, one thing’s clear, Jason Blum isn’t slowing down. He’s still on a mission to reinvent horror’s most iconic monsters, one franchise at a time.
