The merger of Jason Blum’s Blumhouse and James Wan’s Atomic Monster is on the verge of closing, Blum told TheWrap on Tuesday.
Blum, talking about the duo’s upcoming horror sequel “Insidious: The Red Door,” said their union is “dangerously close.”
Reports about the potential merger surfaced in November and continued after the oversized success of “M3GAN,” which was produced for $12 million and wound up making $180 million worldwide.
After “Insidious: The Red Door,” the next collaboration between the two is “Night Swim,” set for release next year. And, of course, a sequel to “M3GAN” arriving in 2025.
TheWrap also asked Blum if the combined company would have a new name, perhaps combining the two names of the separate companies. Blum shot this down – it will still be Blumhouse and Atomic Monster, seemingly confirming earlier reports that the two labels would have their own brand identities but share resources and infrastructure.
Atomic Monster, of course, is home to “The Conjuring” movies and stand-alone stories like Wan’s “Malignant” and the Netflix original “There’s Someone Inside Your House.” And Blumhouse has the “Paranormal Activity” and “The Purge” franchises, among many other modern horror favorites like “Freaky” and David Gordon Green’s recent “Halloween” trilogy.
Blum and Green have an “Exorcist” reboot in the works for this Halloween and Blumhouse’s long-in-the-works “Five Nights at Freddy’s” will also be hitting in time for Halloween (in theaters and on Peacock), while Wan is hard at work on his “Aquaman” sequel, “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” set to be released theatrically this Christmas.
When combined, the two companies will form a true horror juggernaut, encompassing film, television and podcasts, with some of the biggest franchises and most talented filmmakers.
“Insidious: The Red Door” opens in theaters on July 7.
