Emmy award winning and Oscar nominated producer Jason Blum has produced over 80 films and TV series throughout his career.
Jason Blum is the founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions, a multi-media production company that has pioneered a new model of studio filmmaking- producing high-quality micro-budget films. Blumhouse has a first-look deal with Universal Pictures and has produced the highly-profitable Paranormal Activity, The Purge, Insidious, and Sinister franchises which have grossed more than $1.2 billion worldwide on combined budgets under $40 million. Blumhouse’s model began with the original Paranormal Activity, which was made for $15,000 and grossed close to $200 million worldwide, making it the most profitable film in Hollywood history.
Truth Or Dare – is Blumhouse Productions’ latest chilling supernatural thriller which is out in UK cinemas on Friday 13th April. Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars) and Tyler Posey (Teen Wolf) lead the cast where we see a harmless game of “Truth or Dare” among friends turns deadly when someone—or something—begins to punish those who tell a lie—or refuse the dare…
Ahead of the release of Truth Or Dare we look at Blum’s top 6 films and what makes them so successful…
GET OUT
Critically acclaimed Get Out won an Academy award for Best Original Screenplay and was nominated for Best Achievement in Directing, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role and Best Motion Picture (a rare accolade for a horror film). It was named the best-rated film of 2017 on Rotten Tomatoes.
Due to the success of this film, Jordan Peele became the first African-American writer, producer, and director to earn more than one hundred million dollars in a debut film.
Chance the Rapper was so impressed by the movie that he bought all of the movie tickets from Chicago movie theatres just so people could go see the film for free. In one of his tweets talking about the film, he says, “Just pull up with an ID and enjoy the movie.”
WHIPLASH
Triple Academy award winning Whiplash was director Damien Chazelle’s predecessor to the immensely successful La La Land. He directed Whiplash at only 29 years old.
Filmed in merely 19 days, the film is one of the lowest grossing movies ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Miles Teller, who has played the drums since he was 15, received blisters on his hands due to the vigorous, unconventional style of jazz drumming. Some of his blood was on the drumsticks and the drum set as a result. Similarly, For the slapping scene, J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller filmed several takes with Simmons only miming the slap. For the final take, Simmons and Teller decided to film the scene with a real, genuine slap. This is the take that is in the film.
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
Paranormal Activity was a true cinematic experiment that paid off.
The actors weren’t given scripts but were given guidelines on how to behave or what to discuss in their scenes. The entire film was shot on a home digital camera, in Oren Peli’s own home, over the course of 10 days. The film also contains no opening or closing credits.
The film beat Saw VI (2009) to the top of the box office charts, effectively bringing about the end of the Saw franchise.
THE PURGE
The fourth ‘Purge’ film is releasing this Summer, but the original film starring Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey was released in 2013 and grossed $89 million.
According to director DeMonaco, a road-rage incident was the inspiration for The Purge. He and his wife were driving on the freeway when a drunk driver cut them off nearly killing them. After both cars stopped, the other driver’s lack of remorse enraged DeMonaco enough to engage in a fistfight and police eventually had to get involved. After the incident was over, DeMonaco’s wife turned to him and commented how great it would be to have one free murder a year. He felt bad admitting this because she’s normally a “sweet woman”.
SINISTER
There is very little blood, almost no cursing, and no sex in this film because the filmmakers were hoping for a PG-13 rating. However, they still got an R based on content alone.
In order to add the authenticity of old home movies and snuff films, the Super 8 segments were shot on actual super 8 cameras and film stock.
INSIDIOUS
There have been four Insidious films in total – 1 sequel and 2 prequels. The original was directed by horror legend James Wan of Saw and The Conjuring fame.
(At around 30 minutes) When Josh is in the classroom, on the chalkboard behind him, the name “James Wan” can be clearly seen, as well as a drawing of Billy, the puppet from Wan’s Saw (2004), with the number “8” written under it.
Thirty-three violins were used for the theme music, and the film ultimately grossed $97 million.
TRUTH OR DARE IS RELEASED IN UK CINEMAS ON FRIDAY 13TH APRIL FROM UNIVERSAL PICTURES
