Producers Jason Blum and James Wan held the Produced By conference on Saturday, declaring that the movie business is recovering strongly from the post-COVID-19 downturn. The pair spoke with enthusiasm as the Blumhouse Atomic Monster studio continues to thrive on the success of two high-profile box office hits: Focus Features’ Obsession and A24’s Backrooms.
“For me, it feels like it’s like the ’70s, where there’s a new generation of young people making edgy movies and flocking to theaters in crazy ways,” Blum said at the opening session of Produced By, hosted by the Producers Guild of America on the grounds of Universal Studios.
“There are so many young people who didn’t grow up in a time when they couldn’t go to the movies, didn’t have something to give up their iPad and go watch a movie. All of a sudden, they could watch two movies,” Blum said. “Obsession this weekend was up 20% from last weekend. Last weekend it was up 30%.”
“The horror genre continues to save our industry,” Wang flatly declared during a discussion moderated by PGA President Stephanie Alleyne.
Blum claimed that “Obsession,” made on a budget of $750,000, is now the highest-grossing film released domestically by Universal’s Focus Features specialty label.
Blum and Wang cited their excitement for new talent emerging from the grassroots of social media and YouTube, such as “Obsession” director Curry Barker and “Backroom” director Kane Parsons. Blum pointed out the perhaps not unexpected irony that creators who grew up on the small screen now yearn to see their work on the biggest stage.
“There’s hope for the movie business, and that’s exciting and great. Everybody’s on Instagram, everybody’s on social media, there’s a generation of internet stars who want to make movies. That’s great, and it’s great for all of us,” Blum said.
Wang made a great point about that. “They want to make movies for the big screen,” Wang said. “They’re on the internet on platforms like TikTok and YouTube, but at the end of the day, they’re storytellers. They want to create for the big screen. This younger generation, Gen Z, really wants to get back to the theater.”
“And they’re making something that’s never been seen before,” Blum added, citing “Backroom,” which is based on the horrors found in liminal spaces. “This is the greatest, yet weirdest movie of all time, and the idea that this might be the greatest original horror opening of all time is really, really great for everyone in this room.”
Wang shared a bit more of the backstory on how Backrooms came together when he contacted the then-16-year-old Parsons in early 2010.
“As a filmmaker, you just come across something where you see something and go. Even if it’s not viral, this has the seeds of something really great. But if there’s something special about it, go for it. I think the creators of this particular content have what it takes,” Wang said.
“That’s kind of what happened in the early days of Atomic Monsters, about four or five years ago, when we came across this viral short called ‘Backroom.’ And we thought, look, this is amazing. We should talk to this guy (Parsons). He was 16 years old, and his first Zoom with him, his father was also on Zoom. We wanted to make sure he had permission, so we worked with him. He’s a really smart kid and his maturity is way beyond his age.
Wang and the Atomic Monster weren’t the only ones chasing Parsons. Film director Shawn Levy was also involved in the search efforts. He is the executive producer of the film, which opens this weekend.
“There were a lot of people going after Kane. I think Kane was heartbroken because he really likes us. We just said, ‘We’re friends with[Levy’s]21 Laps. Let’s work together on this.'” And that’s basically what we did. ”
Blum pointed out how much the job of putting together a movie has changed in recent years. “One of the things I love about producing is that the work is always changing. The work we did 20 years ago is completely different than the work we do now, but one of the strengths of our company is that we understand how to harness the talent of these new generations of creators and turn them into theatrical films. It’s complex. But that’s our new mission now.”
(Photo: James Wan and Jason Blum of Blumhouse Atomic Monsters)
