Both horror film icons, Blumhouse is determined to secure the rights

The quality record of the films produced by Blumhouse Productions is very hit and miss, but they have been able to maintain their wins and losses by largely keeping their budgets at the lower end of the Hollywood spectrum. The business model gives them the ability to generate high profits for a project that may require additional funds to get off the ground or to secure the rights to a dormant horror franchise. At the helm of Blumhouse is its namesake CEO, Jason Blum, whose 15 years of leadership have overseen the rise of films like “Paranormal Activity,” “Insidious,” “Get Out,” “The Purge” and, most recently, “Black Phone 2.” The company almost always featured titles like these in trailers promoting its next feature film.

In 2023, Blumhouse lost the rights to Michael Myers after closing out (for now) the “Halloween” saga with 2022’s “Halloween Ends.” Since then, however, Blum’s attempts to curate his own library of horror icons have mirrored the ups and downs of the business. The underperformance of “M3GAN 2.0” put the AI ​​killer doll out to pasture, while “Black Phone 2” proved that someone interested in Grabber by Ethan Hawke. I may think the first “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is a terrible horror movie, but the upcoming sequel will probably keep Blumhouse in business for years.

Still, Blum remains hopeful that he can catch his killer white whales by bringing Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger under his roof. “We’re still haggling. I race against them every day. I’ll never give up on the quest. And if they do one without me, I’ll continue the next movie,” Blum says (via Variety).

From 2025, the rights to Freddy Krueger are omnipresent. The Dream Demon and the “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise are both owned by the estate of Wes Craven, while international rights are held by New Line Cinema (via Fangoria). This makes Blum’s dreams all the more difficult to realize given that Blumhouse’s output is largely under contract to Universal. The legal hubbub has has all but halted any significant traction on another “Elm Street” since the widely lambasted Platinum Dunes remake in 2010. There is also the question of choosing the right person who could both wear the tattered sweater And at the height of the irreplaceable Robert Englund.

“Friday the 13th” is somehow equal more complicated, as the show had been in a comically long and exhausting legal battle for years. Screenwriter Victor Miller claimed ownership of the “Friday the 13th” name and everything in the 1980 film, while director Sean S. Cunningham owns the rights to adult Jason. These developments led to the rebranding of the slasher under the Jason Universe company, which intends to revive the franchise through projects like the A24/Peacock prequel series “Crystal Lake.” So far, the company has mostly stuck to offering Angry Orchard-branded merchandise and short films. Why would you want to see Jason killing people on screen when you can see him sponsoring a Peloton class instead? Unless Miller allows Blum to write him a big check, the horror production company can’t label any potential Jason-centric film as “Friday the 13th,” which seems like a recipe for disaster.

But rights issues aside, having all the horror icons under one roof seems like a really bad idea.

Blumhouse has undoubtedly produced its share of memorable films, but very few villains that have become horror staples. Production company bogeymen like Baghuul (“Sinister”), the lipstick-faced demon (“Insidious”), Babyface (“Happy Death Day”) and just about every mask variation from the “Purge” films aren’t as easily recognizable to the general public beyond fans of the genre. “Black Phone 2” was a success, but I don’t see The Grabber taking off as the company’s Freddy. Blumhouse should also add Jigsaw to its horror roster. it recently acquired the rights to “Saw,” with the series now back in the hands of its creator, James Wan. It was easy to count on Michael Myers since he already had a built-in audience thanks to the previous “Halloween” films.

It’s also harder than ever to turn original horror villains into lasting stars. Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton), “Terrifier”, is the only slasher in recent memory that could justify being mentioned in the same breath as Michael, Jason and Freddy. With very few of his company’s horror villains taking off in this way, it’s easy to see why Blum would be so determined to revive two of the most iconic screen killers. But it just doesn’t seem like a good idea for a company to spend so much time resurrecting other villains only to leave out its own prospects. There’s a chance that Blum could recruit some creative people to create exciting projects for Jason and Freddy. I just don’t think it’s going to happen anytime soon. But it’s nice to dream.