Legendary Horror Producer Admits His Biggest Regrets: ‘Those Should’ve Been Hit Movies’

by

Jason Blum, head of Blumhouse Productions, thinks two of his movies underperformed in theaters. He feels one wasn’t well-received by audiences, and the other didn’t have a proper opportunity to succeed.

I recently spoke with Jason Blum about his long and successful career in film. When asked about movies that taught him valuable lessons through their failures, Blum specifically mentioned the 2015 film *Jem and the Holograms* and the 2020 film *The Hunt*, saying both had the potential to be big hits.

Blumhouse’s biggest disappointments, the ones I still think about, are *Jem and the Holograms* and *The Hunt*. Both had the potential to be big hits. The frustrating thing about the movie business is that even when everything seems perfect, a film can still fail. I believe Jon M. Chu did a fantastic job with *Jem and the Holograms*, but it just didn’t connect with audiences. And *The Hunt* was also well-made, but false information and negative press ultimately ruined its chances. It was really disheartening, because the film could have been a cultural success and a big financial win.

Jason Blum Has Regrets Over Two Failed Movies

The movie *Jem and the Holograms*, a live-action musical directed by Jon M. Chu, was inspired by the popular animated series from the 1980s. Despite being based on a well-known brand, the film didn’t do well in theaters, earning only $1.4 million its opening weekend. It was quickly pulled from cinemas after just two weeks.

Craig Zobel directed *The Hunt*, a film about wealthy people kidnapping and hunting working-class individuals for entertainment. The filmmakers aimed to create a satire about America’s increasing political polarization, but early viewers didn’t interpret it that way. To make matters worse, the movie was released right when most theaters closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The recent horror sequel, *M3GAN 2.0*, didn’t perform as well as its popular predecessor, *M3GAN* (2022). Producer Jason Blum explained the film’s struggles, pointing to a shift in the movie’s style. While the first *M3GAN* was a straight-up horror film, the sequel leaned more towards action and comedy.

Initially, we felt like M3gan was incredibly flexible – we believed we could adapt her to any story, setting, or character type. We could switch genres, change the time of year she appeared, alter her appearance, or even make her a hero instead of a villain,” explained Blum. “We ended up overcomplicating things and underestimated just how much people connected with the original concept.

Blumhouse will finish the year with two new horror movies: *Black Phone 2* comes out October 17th, and *Five Nights at Freddy’s 2* will be released December 5th.

Read More

2025-10-09 16:06