Blumhouse Officially Has the Rights to This Famed Horror Franchise

Blumhouse, the horror-focused Production company that has somehow existed for 25 years (not in a bad way, I’m just tired of numbers that make me feel old), is no stranger to franchises. They are responsible for the Paranormal Activity series, which delivered seven films over 14 years. Insidious found its home with the company and has five films to its name (with one more possibly on the way). Presumably, they want to do the same thing with M3GAN, though I’ll be interested to see how folks react to the apparent tonal shift in the upcoming sequel. But Blumhouse hasn’t needed to create all of their franchises from scratch, though that seems to be where they have the most luck.

Michael Myers and the Halloween franchise found themselves haunting the house of Blum. Danny McBride and David Gordon Green shepherded the sequel trilogy, which was also a reboot, but also tried to emulate some of what came before, but was also delayed/affected by a pandemic. In short, I liked the first one, and the other two exist. But they did well enough (all things considered) that Blumhouse handed the keys to the Exorcist franchise, which they also hold the rights to, to McBride and Green. That resulted in one of the worst movie-going experiences I have had in quite some time. Love McBride, love Green, that movie was just not good.

That isn’t keeping Blumhouse from returning to the well, though. Mike Flanagan has been enlisted to write and direct a new Exorcist film, and he describes his take as “fresh, bold, and terrifying.” Hopefully it is! I trust Mike Flanagan quite a bit, and while I don’t think there needs to be more Exorcist movies (there’s only ever been one good one aside from the first), I’m less hesitant if he is involved. I also still have a lot of faith in Blumhouse, even though they’ve left me disappointed in the past. Maybe they just need some new (but old) blood, which will be spewing from sawn-off limbs.

After striking a partnership with James Wan’s production company, Atomic Monster, in 2022, Blumhouse will be taking over the rights to Wan’s other legendary franchise, Saw. Jigsaw will officially make Blumhouse its home, with Deadline announcing the acquisition as a done deal. Lionsgate will retain 50% economic interest, leaving them to profit from the films without being involved in production, which is likely for the best. Wan, who created the first film with Leigh Whannel but then took more of a back seat, will seemingly be more involved with the franchise going forward, but the extent to which he will be involved is currently unknown.

“Saw holds a special place in my heart—it’s where Leigh and I began our Hollywood journey,” the director said in a statement. “Coming back to this world with a fresh perspective is both thrilling and deeply personal. For me, this will mark a significant creative return to the Saw franchise for the first time since the early days, and I’m very much looking forward to embracing the original spirit whilst pushing the legacy forward in bold, unexpected ways.” I will admit up front that I am not the target audience for Saw, but Wan’s return to the franchise intrigues the hell out of me.

This move feels like one more primed for success. I struggle to see what you could do with a franchise ten films deep that’s “new,” but maybe Wan will bring some of that old, gory magic back. The question is: will fans continue to turn out? The latest film, Saw X, made over $100 million on a $13 million budget. Spinning that much cash out of such a low budget is already in Blumhouse’s wheelhouse; now they just have to hope the fans remain thirsty.