Horror Heavy-Hitter Blumhouse Is Having A Rough Year

If you’re a horror fan, you’re familiar with Blumhouse Productions (cited as Blumhouse from here out). Even if you’re not a horror fan, you’ve probably watched a Blumhouse film without knowing it (“Whiplash?” “Jem and the Holograms?” “Tooth Fairy?”). Jason Blum’s nightmare factory is synonymous with today’s mainstream horror pillars, securing the rights to everything from “Halloween” to “The Exorcist” and beyond. Indeed, it’s impossible to banter about our contemporary horror era without acknowledging how prevalent and prodigious Blumhouse has become — so why does it feel like it’s ghosting us this year?

Blumhouse decimated last year’s horror movie market. In 2023, Blum’s juggernaut scared up nearly $800 million worldwide in box office totals. Emma Tammi’s video game adaptation “Five Nights at Freddy’s” boasted a high score of $297 million on a $20 million budget — one of nine films released by Blumhouse. Now, there’s no metric for reporting for streaming titles like “Totally Killer” (Prime Video) or “The Passenger (MGM+), so that $800 million-ish haul only considers “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” “The Exorcist: Believer,” “Insidious: The Red Door,” and “M3GAN.” Anywhere you looked, whether in theaters or on multiple streaming platforms, Blumhouse was crushing the competition.

How about 2024? It’s like night and day.

Whether critically or monetarily, Blumhouse isn’t making any grand statements. Its reduced output this year has generated moderate to underwhelming buzz, while box office returns have been meager (by comparison). As of today, “Night Swim” tops their worldwide gross chart with about $54 million — “Imaginary” follows closely with $43 million. After that? “Speak No Evil” opened this past weekend by clearing its budget at $20.8 million (international and domestic), while “AfrAId” secured last place with an abysmal $10 million (under the film’s reported $12 million budget spend). That’s not even half of “Five Nights at Freddy’s” in a year when Blumhouse relied on its original storytelling versus legacy intellectual properties.

Funnily enough, Blumhouse has been criticized for abandoning original creations in favor of Americanized remakes, external franchise acquisitions, and the umpteenth internal sequel. Blumhouse’s early output in 2024 doesn’t chase anything recognizable — a haunted swimming pool, a demonic imaginary friend, and rogue artificial intelligence are all based on original scripts. James Watkins’ “Speak No Evil” is the company’s only 2024 “non-original,” but Watkins does well to avoid becoming a one-for-one adaptation of Christian Tafdrup’s Danish original. (Plus, it’s not like “Speak No Evil” promises the same brand recognition as “Halloween,” “Black Christmas,” or even “Martyrs.”) Add the Ariana DeBose-starring restaurant horror flick “House of Spoils,” hitting Prime Video on October 3rd, and Blumhouse is committing to a year without nostalgia plays or safety netting … but it’s struggling to win over audiences.

Box office totals aren’t tragic, but it’s hard to ignore how 2024’s total (so far) isn’t even half of what “Five Nights at Freddy’s” mustered. Maybe that’s unfair; the “Five Nights” lore spans countless internet forums and comes with a ravenous fanbase, yet even something critically panned like “The Exorcist: Believer” has outgrossed this year’s crop (as of right now). “Imaginary” and “Night Swim” both more than doubled their budgets, but other years have that one dynamite Blumhouse runaway — “The Black Phone” ($161 million) or “Halloween Kills” ($133 million) or “The Invisible Man ($144 million). Blumhouse isn’t even tracking to beat its box office returns from 2020 (netting about $225 million total), a year where movie theater sales tanked due to COVID-19 quarantine protocols. That’s an alarming statistic for a company that’s oddly silent in a year with no shortage of fantastic horror releases.

Critics might partially be to blame thus far. Don’t get me wrong; Blum’s catalog is not bulletproof — plenty of Blumhouse films boast negative reviews and rotten Tomatometer numbers. Where early positive receptions may have helped films like Leigh Whannell’s fantastic “The Invisible Man” soar at the box office, it’s possible that a 20% sunk “Night Swim,” or a 24% shut the door on “Imaginary.” I’d say the same for “AfrAId” (at 23%) but Blumhouse did little to promote Chris Weitz’s toothless and ineffective remix of “Smart House” — not to mention that critic screenings were non-existent, so reviews didn’t hit until after release. Point being, 2024 has been uncharacteristically lukewarm for Blumhouse across the board, where it doesn’t have a typical showstopper (whether a critical darling or steamrolling money train).

Honestly, that’s what — I think — the company saw in “Speak No Evil.” Or, rather, hoped “Speak No Evil” would become. There’s a reason movie fans have been making jokes for weeks about the inescapable nature of the “Speak No Evil” trailer, not to mention how much it reveals. Trailers for “Speak No Evil” overshadowed even “AfrAID,” which essentially got buried for the James McAvoy vacation thriller. It makes sense, given the company’s slower start to 2024. Why not put all your eggs into the last basket left? “Split” was a breakout success on McAvoy’s muscle-ripped shoulders, so why not “Speak No Evil?” Well, a domestic $11.5 million opening weekend doesn’t point toward anywhere near that type of return.

So, should Blumhouse be worried? Is this the downfall of a titan in the horror industry? No, not in the least.

Blumhouse’s name has been associated with nine-plus releases per year since 2020 (until 2024), not to mention its television and video game divisions (among verticals). It might be struggling to attract attention on the screen this year, but it still has a heavy presence at Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights. Blum’s business sensibilities have always been an asset, and there’s a reason why Blumhouse has ballooned to its current size, or why creatives like James Wan would ink partnership deals (Atomic Monster). Viewable public information on new releases doesn’t equate to Blumhouse’s usual accomplishments this year, but numbers still chart positive — and next year, the company’s ticket sales are poised to explode.

Blum has every reason to remain cool, calm, and collected about a perceived off-year. Why? Here’s the announced slated lineup for 2025: Leigh Whannell’s “Wolf Man,” Jaume Collet-Serra’s “The Woman in the Yard,” Christopher Landon’s “Drop,” Gerard Johnstone’s “M3GAN 2.0,” an untitled “Insidious” film, Scott Derrickson’s “The Black Phone 2,” and Emma Tammi’s “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.” Based on existing data, Blumhouse’s 2025 could be their highest-grossing year in company history.

“Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” a new “Insidious,” and “The Black Phone 2” are locked to repeat in gigantic ways. Collet-Serra has continued to prove himself a director behind commercial successes. Whannell’s earned enough goodwill from horror fans to erase those silly complaints about Halloween Horror Night’s “Wolf Man” mask. “Drop” is the most significant question mark since it falls under Blumhouse’s original umbrella, and 2024’s toss-ups cause momentary pause, but that’s par for the course. Blumhouse’s answer to this year’s lull is to rebound with a year packed with their moneymakers, almost exclusively reliant on reboots and sequels. Critics can complain all they want, but businesses are run on profitability numbers and are shaped by market responses to their products. When audiences keep showing up for familiarity instead of taking the risk on original concepts, what’s Blumhouse supposed to do?

Consumers drive demand with their wallets — hence, we’ll never see an “AfrAId” continuation.

To be fair, “success” in this industry carries different definitions based on who’s using the word. “Speak No Evil” garnered a Certified Fresh 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, and as a self-proclaimed foodie, I’m dying to see “House of Spoils” at Fantastic Fest later this week. Blumhouse may be making less noise this year, but even that’s influenced by its standards. Other companies fantasize about earning almost $130 million on a $55 million spend. As long as “Speak No Evil” has legs, it’ll hopefully match “Imaginary” and “Night Swim” at the $40-$50 million marker — albeit, with 2024 still ending up the first year without Blumhouse a project that smashes past the $100 million threshold. Compared to prior frames when Blumhouse had saturated the market, 2024 feels like the studio is taking a breather before hitting an all-out sprint in 2025.

Will we talk about “Night Swim,” “Imaginary,” or “AfrAId” in years to come like Michael Myers’ thorny cultists will be debating “Halloween Ends” decades from now? Not a shot. Year in and year out, Blumhouse always seems to make an impression one way or another — but 2024 feels like a whisper (outside the “Speak No Evil” trailer campaign). In a period where the studio has prioritized original content, it’ll have no film top $100 million worldwide. Next year, with a lineup stacked with recognizable IPs, it’s poised to break record profits and should presumably have multiple $100+ million headliners. Even in an off-year, Blumhouse is still ahead of the game.