In theaters today is Christopher Landon’s Happy Death Day, a horror comedy about a sorority girl who must contend with living out her death over and over again to figure out just who it is that is trying to kill her. Landon’s latest was produced by the fine folks over at Blumhouse Productions, and at a recent press day for their latest offering, Daily Dead had the opportunity to speak with producer Jason Blum.
During the interview, Blum discussed collaborating with Landon, why Blumhouse will always take risks with their directorial talent and the types of films they make, and the pressure he’s feeling in regards to the upcoming new Halloween film.
I know you’ve worked with Chris before, so I’m sure it was an easy decision to team up again. But I was wondering, what was it about this project in particular that caught your eye from a producing standpoint?
Jason Blum: It was 99% Chris. We've got a great working relationship. He's an extraordinarily talented guy and he's also a little undervalued. I've been needling him to give us anything he wanted to do and when he gave us the script I was going to make it before I read it. Happily, I read it and I liked it, but I really believe in him as a creative person. The reason that we did it is because of him.
When you got the script, did you give Chris a lot of feedback ,or did you just let him go off and do his own thing?
Jason Blum: We give our directors a lot of feedback and a lot of ideas. Terri Taylor, who cast the movie and works for us as our casting person and our production executive, budgeted the movie, our post production. We give them a ton of input, but we don't make them do any of our ideas. I try and provide a lot of different colors on a palette, but then he makes the art. That's what we do.
Even though PG-13 horror still has something of a stigma to it, you guys have been able to find great success in that realm and with R-rated films as well. Is there a balance you try to strike when it comes to things like that?
Jason Blum: I think if you're making a movie for young people or you want young people to enjoy it, too, you have to make it PG-13. If you make a movie about high school kids, like Ouija, you can't make it about high school kids and then tell them they can't go see it.
I wouldn't say that there was some mandate to make PG-13 movies. I would never say we need to make more R, PG-13—we just need to make great movies, and whatever they turn out to be, they turn out to be. We wanted this to be PG-13, Chris and I, from the start, so we shot the movie to get a PG-13 rating.
You mention making great movies, and it’s been fun to watch the evolution of Blumhouse over the years, because you guys continue to break the mold. I don’t even think I can say there’s a “formula” to what you guys do, other than just find great stories to tell.
Jason Blum: What we look for just speaks to your point of what the decision-making inside the company is, and then it’s reflected in the movies that we do. We try and look for things that haven't been done before, not the sequels, obviously, but on our original movies we really try to do different things. Like Happy Death Day—I haven't seen a movie totally like Happy Death Day in 20 years. That's really what we look for —Get Out, Split, The Purge, The Gift—they all felt different, and that's what we look for. I like scary and I like different.
Clearly you guys are about giving filmmakers chances that maybe a lot of other places wouldn't. Is there something in particular that resonates with you professionally about giving different filmmakers a chance? For example, giving Jordan Peele a chance to direct. I don't know that another studio would've necessarily done that.
Jason Blum: I don't do it to be charitable. I do it because it's great for business. I think that we do hire people that the industry sometimes overlooks. I wish I could say I did it because I'm a nice guy. That's not why I do it. I do it because I think it really works for business. I think that also goes with hiring women directors or diverse directors. I don't do it to make the world a better place. I do it because I think you get better work, and better work means better movies, more money, and an overall better company. I do it for those reasons.
I know you guys have Halloween going right now, and there’s not much you can say on that. But do you feel like a gazillion eyes are on you guys, all just waiting to see how things go with this new film?
Jason Blum: Ye,s I do. I feel a lot of pressure about it. I really do. I really believe in David [Gordon Green]. I'm really happy we got John Carpenter back. I'm really happy we got Jamie Lee Curtis back. And I'm really hoping we make a good movie.
From your perspective, in terms of bringing a character like Michael Myers back to the big screen, what do you think is the key factor that needs to be in this film in order to make it really feel like a Halloween movie?
Jason Blum: I think it has to be scary. That's the key factor, and not get too lost in the mythology and what the fans expect it to be. We keep the fans in mind, because of course you don’t want to let them down. But ultimately, it's got to be scary as hell, so that's what we’re focused on.
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In case you missed it, check here to read our previous coverage of Happy Death Day.
[Photo Credit: Above photo courtesy of Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images.]
Heather A. Wixson was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, until she followed her dreams and moved to Los Angeles in 2009. A 14-year veteran in the world of horror entertainment journalism, Wixson fell in love with genre films at a very early age, and has spent more than a decade as a writer and supporter of preserving the history of horror and science fiction cinema. Throughout her career, Wixson has contributed to several notable websites, including Fangoria, Dread Central, Terror Tube, and FEARnet, and she currently serves as the Managing Editor for Daily Dead, which has been her home since 2013. She's also written for both Fangoria Magazine & ReMind Magazine, and her latest book project, Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume One will be released on October 20, 2021.
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