The great horror renaissance: Jason Blum on how Blumhouse is still scaring up big profits at the box office

Whether it’s avoiding the violent rampage of a smiling stranger or tracking down a killer with unsettling motives, audiences are all in on spooky flicks.

Over the past decade, the horror movie genre has doubled its take at the box office, now raking in about $1 billion in ticket sales each year. This year will likely be another success story: Epic’s gorefest “Terrifier 3,” which came out earlier this month, is now the highest-grossing unrated film, bringing in over $50 million worldwide so far. The film’s creepy star, Art the Clown, will ring the Nasdaq closing bell Thursday just before kids across America start filing to the sidewalks to trick-or-treat.

As the appetite for spine-chilling stories grows, Blumhouse — whose films are distributed by Comcast’s Universal Pictures — stands at the pinnacle of the genre. The 24-year horror powerhouse has amassed nearly $6 billion in global box-office sales. Its catalog includes dozens of hits, including “Paranormal Activity,” “Get Out,” “The Purge,” “Insidious,” and “Sinister.” Last year, Blumhouse produced half of the top 10 highest-grossing horror movies, including “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” which had the biggest horror opening weekend of the year and earned nearly $300 million worldwide during its run. With 10 new films set to hit screens next year, including sequels to “Freddy’s,” “M3GAN,” and “The Invisible Man,” excitement is brewing.

“[With horror] you need to forget that you’re watching a movie; you have to be plugged in,” Jason Blum, CEO and founder of Blumhouse, told Sherwood News. “And the way you do that is with great acting and a great script.” 

Since horror movies can be made faster and cheaper than other genres while raking in huge profits, the market’s more packed than a haunted house on Halloween. Nearly half of the top 20 most profitable movies since 1977 have been horror, according to data-analytics company The Numbers. Since 2013, more than 20 of the top-grossing scary movies have broken $200 million at the box office. 

As horror’s popularity has grown, studios have added more spooky flicks to their lineup. Indie production company A24, originally known for acclaimed films like “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” has made a big splash in horror with breakout hits like “Hereditary” (2018) and “Talk to Me” (2023). Paramount’s “Smile” (2022) was the studio’s biggest original hit since “A Quiet Place” in 2018. Meanwhile, in January Blumhouse struck a deal to merge with James Wan’s Atomic Monster, the studio behind cult-favorite franchises like “Saw,” “The Conjuring,” “Annabelle,” and “The Nun.” Combined, the two houses have grossed $11.6 billion worldwide since 2004, with horror projects accounting for the majority of that haul.

With horror no longer lurking in the shadows, storytelling has become as important as the scares themselves. Creepy thrillers like “Get Out” (2017) used original storytelling to explore themes of racial undertones and social isolation, ultimately earning over $200 million at the box office and nabbing four Academy Award nominations, including for Best Picture.

“The best stories in horror come from a place of authenticity,” Blum added, emphasizing how seemingly impossible situations can still evoke genuine fear and emotions. “If you don’t have a compelling and suspenseful story, one that really keys you into the characters emotionally, the scares are never as good.”

As with many genres, social media and online reviews play a big role in helping audiences decide which movies to see in theaters. 

“When you’re consuming entertainment in a transactional way — buying your ticket for a specific film — that’s when the internet really matters," Blum explains, noting that social-media trends, reviews, and ratings can make or break a film’s theater turnout. If people are buzzing about it online, they’ll buy tickets. If they’re bashing it, it’s a no-go. 

But Blum sees a different story when it comes to streaming, where he believes critics hold much less sway.

“You can look at the top streamed movies and compare them to Rotten Tomatoes scores — there’s no correlation,” he notes. For him, streaming decisions are more spontaneous, with viewers choosing trending titles regardless of reputation. 

Still, horror is one of the few genres that holds a unique edge over streaming, a key factor he believes has fueled horror’s box-office boom in recent years.

“The reason you’ve seen theatrical attendance and box office decline — obviously, Covid and the strikes didn’t help — is streaming,” he explained. While audiences can dive into endless choices at home, he said horror demands the immersion that only theaters can truly provide. “Horror is the one thing that doesn’t work as well on streaming,” Blum said. “If you’re not forced to sit and stare at a horror movie, it’s never a scare.”

Meanwhile, spooky subgenres are evolving beyond just found footage or slasher flicks. Blum sees a major opportunity in AI. “Robots are super scary, you know,” he said. “I think we’ve really scratched the surface, because AI is terrifying.” Universal and Blumhouse’s AI-robot thriller “M3GAN” crushed expectations last year, bringing in over 10x its $12 million production budget at the box office.

“It’s amazing to tell stories in this mix of genres, where you can really play with archetypes and create new rules,” Allison Williams, star of “Get Out” and “M3GAN,” said at New York Comic-Con’s “BlumFest” panel. “In the Blumhouse model, you get to support these new filmmakers and their vision, helping them make the thing they’ve been obsessed with creating for years in a very specific way.”

Horror has also emerged as a unique outlet for younger generations. Nearly one in three Gen Z members name horror as their favorite genre, compared to just 22% of adults across the US according to a survey by Morning Consult.

“Whenever the world is scary, horror movies do really well,” Blum said, adding that watching someone else navigate fear on-screen offers a sense of control that people don’t always feel in real life.

A 2021 Johns Hopkins study found that “counterhedonic consumption” — purposely seeking out negative experiences or products for entertainment — has been on the rise for decades. Researchers say the rapid stimulation of emotions that comes from watching, say, a zombie attack or a serial killer on the loose is one of the key drivers for categories like horror.

“Our sense of control can serve as a psychological protective frame, a prerequisite to experiencing pleasure from horror consumption,” Johns Hopkins behavioral scientist Haiyang Yang said. Separate research also suggests horror fans have a “fear sweet spot,” meaning they enjoy frightening experiences less if they’re not scared enough or if it’s too scary.

“In times of uncertainty, horror gives us a safe place to confront our fears,” Blum said. “We’re in very fertile ground for new horror movies to be thought of.”