Jason Blum and James Wan have renamed their company Blumhouse Atomic Monster to Blumhouse Atomic, two years after Blumhouse and Atomic Monster merged. The two original brands will remain separate labels under the larger company, with their teams continuing to develop films and television projects.
Blum said the merger had delivered on the partners’ expectation that the combined company would be stronger than its individual parts. He also said the business brings together studio-scale output with the creative freedom and financial discipline of an independent company, and offers opportunities to extend stories into television, games and live experiences.
According to the company, its films have earned $2.5 billion at the box office since the merger, against production budgets totaling $330 million. The reported grosses include $525 million for Obsession, which the company joined after Focus Features acquired the independent production; nearly $500 million for The Conjuring: Last Rites; and $400.6 million for Backrooms.
Wan said the renamed company aims to find and support new horror filmmakers. He pointed to its work with Kane Parsons, Curry Barker, Josh Giuliano and Dylan Clark, and said he wants to give filmmakers room to create distinctive projects and build lasting relationships.
The company has also appointed Sam Zimmerman as senior vice president of development and acquisitions to oversee a genre slate of projects budgeted below $5 million. It has signed a first-look deal with horror producers Divide/Conquer for high-concept genre films made on limited budgets, and secured Curry Barker’s first film deal following Obsession for an undisclosed project at Universal.
Upcoming projects on the Blumhouse Atomic slate include River, The Revenge of La Llorona, The Exorcist: Martyrs, Anything But Ghosts, Paranormal Activity, Molepeople, Blair Witch, Sleepover and Seasons. The company is also developing new versions of Paranormal Activity, The Blair Witch Project and Saw, with Wan producing the Saw project after the company reacquired an interest in the franchise from Lionsgate.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter.