Prolific horror producers James Wan and Jason Blum are exploring a merger deal under the Universal banner: more details here.
It was revealed last week that Jason Blum, the Blumhouse chief, and James Wan, the creator of Atomic Monster, are said to be in talks to bring their companies together. In turn creating a bigger entity that will exist as part of Universal Pictures. Both companies have bought in billions and billions of dollars to this point, and according to their creators, are merging so that they can aim for even higher goals.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, both studios ‘would operate as separate labels with their own creative autonomy.’ Also, ‘Wan’s label would move its first-look deal from Warner Bros. to Universal, the home of Blumhouse.’
In terms of the financials, the website states that funds would be split across the three owners, specifically meaning Blum, Wan and Comcast, the parent company of Universal.
It’s a move designed to further increase the scope and scale of the studio’s horror output, with Blum stating that ‘we don’t usually put out more than three or four theatricals a year, and my hope is that with James we could double that to six to eight theatricals.’
Meanwhile, Paramount is also making moves in the horror sphere as the success of films such as Smile once more reassert the genre’s continued ability to offer huge profits on low outlays. The studio has recently hired former DC Studios head Walter Hamada to oversee its horror output.
As it stands, the only studio who are now looking a little thin in the scary stakes is Warner Bros, should Wan take his business elsewhere. The Wan/Blum deal is one that will certainly shake things up and we can expect to see Warner Bros respond in kind at some point soon.
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