Latest news with #Blumhouse
Forbes
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘The Home' Director Wanted To Show A Different Side Of Pete Davidson
Pete Davidson as Max in 'The Home' While Pete Davidson is widely known for his standup specials and eight-season tenure on Saturday Night Live, filmmaker James DeMonaco hoped to show the 31-year-old comedian in a different light with The Home (now playing in theaters), a horror-thriller set against the backdrop of a retirement community hiding dark secrets. 'We knew Pete could do more than comedy,' says DeMonaco, creator of the lucrative Purge franchise, who co-wrote the new film with longtime friend and collaborator, Adam Cantor. 'We knew Pete as a man. We knew him as very soulful person. And I'm like, 'Pete's got more in him than what people see on SNL.'' DeMonaco and Davidson have known each other 'for a while,' owing to the fact that they're both Staten Island natives. 'His mom's house is half a mile away,' notes the former. The two first met around the release of the first Purge movie in 2013 while Davidson worked as a bus boy at a local Italian restaurant. 'The owner, introduced me to Pete said, 'This is a young comedian who wants to be an actor,'' DeMonaco remembers. 'He went on to SNL, but we always stayed in touch and were actually writing a comedy together right before COVID. Then COVID hit and we really didn't see each other. I think we played Call of Duty Zombies during the pandemic. He had also written a wonderful comedy version of The Purge that I was trying to get going with Blumhouse and Universal." That project never got off the ground, but DeMonaco was determined to work with Davidson at some point, and the opportunity finally arose via The Home. The comedian headlines the piece as Max, a product of the foster system trying to avoid jail time by accepting a job as a custodial worker at a retirement home. At first, the elderly residents — like Lou (John Glover; Gremlins 2: The New Batch) and Norma (Mary Beth Peil; Dawson's Creek) — appear warm and welcoming, but as time goes on, Max begins to suspect that the place is more than just a place for senior citizens to spend the remainder of their golden years. 'Pete brings a lot to the table,' DeMonaco says. 'I think he had an avenue into Max's trauma and loss since he's experienced great loss in his own life. He was able to find the wayward soul that Max had become and [relate to the way in which the character expresses himself] through graffiti. Pete often expresses himself through art. There was parallel there, and that's why Adam and I knew Pete was right for this character.' The idea behind the film was partly inspired by Robert Altman's 1977 psychological thriller, 3 Women, starring Sissy Spacek and Shelley Duvall. 'When you watch the movie, it's very ill-defined, but it takes place at this kind of weird desert spa with old people,' DeMonaco explains. 'It freaked me out as a little boy. The whole movie feels like a dream [and] I love movies that feel like you're watching someone else's dream.' At the same time, he and Cantor wanted to subvert the longtime cinematic trope of elderly characters being portrayed as 'very cute and cuddly,' à la Ron Howard's Cocoon. In a way, The Home is Get Out with octogenarians. 'We were like, 'Oh, wouldn't it be fun to do something where the old people aren't the cliche depiction of cute and cuddly? [What if] there was something nefarious behind [them]?'' The bulk of production took place at a recently-closed old age home run by nuns in Denville, New Jersey. 'It was very creepy and I think it was haunted,' says DeMonaco, who was able to forestall the building's demolition just long enough to film the movie. 'It had just been abandoned, so there were still a lot of personal effects,' he adds. 'We would find very ominous things like little plaques on the wall [commemorating] where someone died. It was around for 100 years, so it had great history to it. That detail is very hard to recreate." Despite the serious nature of his role, Davidson always insisted on doing a comedic take, just in case DeMonaco found a place for it in the final film, with the director joking, "We could probably edit together a pretty humorous film here, which would be fun to watch.' L-R: James DeMonaco and Pete Davidson on the set of 'The Home' And since this is the creator of The Purge we're talking about, there also had to be a little sociopolitical commentary thrown into the mix, 'without being preachy and proselytizing,' affirms the director, who added in a subplot about a destructive hurricane, as well as an eerie educational video from the Cold War period extolling the wondrous benefits of drilling for oil (you'll know it when you see it). 'I guess the idea of climate change and previous generations raping the [environment] was on my mind," muses DeMonaco. 'My daughter was turning a teen at the time and looking out for her future. I think it all coalesced into this weird idea about a crazy retirement community.' The Home standing as an allegory for older generations ruining the planet for future ones is 'there for people who want to feel it,' DeMonaco continues. 'And hopefully, it's just a fun genre piece for everybody else.' When it comes to flaunting its horror colors, The Home doesn't blink — quite literally. Unafraid to make you squirm, the film contains a litany of distressing imagery, the most notable of which is a needle going into Max's eyeball (see below). While the needle was digital (for obvious reasons), the close-up shot of the clamped-open peeper was completely practical, necessitating the presence of two doctors and a nurse who were there to make sure there was no long-term impairment to Davidson's vision. 'I wanted to get the big shot, which was the close-up first,' DeMonaco says. 'Obviously, I wanted to do a wide so people would see that it's Pete. Two minutes into the close-up, the doctor walks over to me and says, 'You've got about another 30 seconds before we do real damage to Pete's eye.' So we had to get the clamp out of his eye. I never got the wide, but I do want the audience to know that that's Pete Davidson doing [it]. It's not a stunt eye, and it was very uncomfortable. Pete was very tense. We were all very tense, but there was no damage [done] to his eye, thank God." A close-up of Pete Davidson's eyeball in 'The Home' Another haunting image takes the form a creepy mask, which is not only a nod to The Purge universe, but also to DeMonaco's childhood fears. 'Since I was a small boy, I've been just absolutely terrified of anyone in a mask,' the director admits. 'My mom said I couldn't go into Burger King or McDonald's. I guess they used to have Ronald McDonald and the Burger King character in the McDonald's when I was very young, growing up in Brooklyn and Staten Island. She said I would literally run out screaming. I couldn't go to circuses either because of the clowns. Not that they're wearing masks, but it's kind of a mask. I finally realized years later [that] there something about not knowing a person's real [face]. I don't like not knowing a person's expression. I need to be able to read someone's face [and] the mask doesn't allow one to see the face.' He continues: 'I think we're all feeding off our own fears, dreams, and nightmares as we make films. I was prone to night terrors growing up, and still am. I still often scream in my sleep, which is terrible for my wife. So I think masks have always been a part of my nightmare-scape.' In the end, Max discovers that the old folks he's been tending to are much older than they appear. The retirement community is actually the front for a sinister cult, one that counts Max's foster parents — Couper (Victor Williams) and Syliva (Jessica Hecht) — among its members. For over a century, this clandestine group has extracted youth-sustaining substance from unsuspecting victims, including Max's older brother who supposedly died years before, to extend their lifespans. 'There have been a lot of movies that suddenly drop a bomb, but what it really is, is kind of a letdown,' DeManaco says. 'So we took a lot of time to sit [and think], 'Okay, if we're going to do this … I want to make sure I'm not disappointed by the truth.'" As the aforementioned hurricane hits the retirement home, Max breaks free of his bonds and goes on a blood-soaked rampage, slicing and dicing his way through the terrified cult members in what DeMonaco calls a 'brutal revenge fantasy" that is less Chad Stahelski and more Paul Greengrass. 'I love watching the John Wick movies [but] my personal shooting style for action scenes is more dirty and gritty [like] the way [Paul] Greengrass shoots, where it just feels a little more raw and non-choreographed. Yet you have to choreograph because you don't want someone to get hurt. So it's very fine line where you don't want to feel [the choreography]. I hope it plays both." The day they filmed Max's killing spree was quite fun for DeMonaco, who got to dump copious amounts of blood on the iconic Pete Davidson, "although he really got into it," concludes the director. 'He got his revenge at the end of the shot when he came and hugged me and ruined my really cool shirt. But whatever. That's okay … I hope the audience has as much watching it as we did shooting it." The Home is now playing in theaters everywhere. Click here for tickets!
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Horror's middle class is vanishing – and that's bad news for all film fans
Does no one want to watch people get butchered any more? Horror, long recognised as one of Hollywood's most reliable cash cows, is in a panic: few scary movies are breaking through financially in 2025, many more are cratering completely, and questions are being asked about the future of a genre that once seemed as durable as Jason Voorhees. Forget the death of the archetypal movie star: if sassy psycho-cyborg M3GAN can't open a movie, who can? Back in 2022, the first M3GAN – about an artificially intelligent doll with a bloodthirst – grossed $182m (£135m), including $78m of pure profit for its backers at Universal Pictures and the micro-budget horror studio Blumhouse, off a production budget of just $12m. Thanks to smart marketing, which turned its leading lady's incongruous dancefloor skills into a spooky meme, M3GAN ended up exemplifying the dream outcome of the modern studio horror film: low-cost, big-brain thrills with such inescapable dazzle that audiences couldn't not seek it out. Why, then, did last month's M3GAN 2.0 go so badly? In four weeks, the more action-oriented sequel has grossed a measly $38m worldwide, a result so mortifying that the head of Blumhouse put his hands up within days of its release and admitted to having totally missed the mark. M3GAN 2.0 isn't alone, either. This year has seen a staggering number of horror films die at the box office, among them Blumhouse's reboot of Wolf Man ($34m gross on a production budget of $20m), the Ayo Edebiri horror comedy Opus ($2m gross/$10m budget), Jenna Ortega vehicle Death of a Unicorn ($16m gross/$15m budget), the well-received adoption chiller Bring Her Back ($23m gross/$15m budget), and last week's revival of the Nineties hit I Know What You Did Last Summer, which opened to a flat $13m in the US. Yes, these films' production budgets are lean (though the extent of marketing budgets is largely kept under lock and key), and many of the above titles will ultimately break even once video-on-demand grosses are factored in – but none of their respective backers will be happy with what amounts to loose change. On the other end of the spectrum, meanwhile, are this year's handful of out-and-out horror smashes, most significantly the Michael B Jordan vampire film Sinners, which cost a reported $100m to make but has grossed $365m. There's also been Final Destination: Bloodlines ($285m and counting on a budget of $50m) and Danny Boyle's 28 Years Later, which has so far grossed $145m on a budget of $60m – not wildly profitable, by any means, but decent enough. So people are still going to see horror on the big screen, but – echoing the Western world as a whole – horror's middle class is evaporating. The genre seems to either go big or collapse entirely. Any kind of financial in-between is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. All this leaves a film such as next week's Weapons carrying undue levels of pressure. A missing-persons thriller starring Julia Garner and Josh Brolin, it revolves around the disappearance of a class of children in small-town USA, and serves as filmmaker Zach Cregger's follow-up to his 2022 sleeper hit Barbarian. Promotion for the film has been strong – lots of abstract and eerie imagery in trailers, and attempts at virality via the publishing of two hours of 'surveillance footage' from the night of the children's 'disappearance'. But the stakes feel particularly high. Weapons sparked a bidding war between rival studios when Cregger first unveiled his script, with Warner Bros so eager to get the up-and-comer on side that they coughed up a $38m budget for the film, and allowed him final cut. If Weapons underperforms, this kind of investment in a young, ambitious filmmaker's original ideas may become even rarer than it is already. Why this is bad for everyone is that, in the last decade or so, horror has been one of the few genres to wholeheartedly embrace fresh ideas and fresh voices. The likes of Jordan Peele's Get Out (2017), Coralie Fargeat's The Substance (2024), Ari Aster's Hereditary (2018) and Robert Eggers's The Witch (2015) proved that audiences will turn out in droves for intriguing new concepts, no matter how wild they might seem on paper – and in the process, an entire generation of buzzy new filmmakers developed fanbases, industry clout, and (relative) name recognition. Speaking to The Town podcast shortly after M3GAN 2.0 bombed, Blumhouse head Jason Blum suggested that there is simply too much horror being released for many films to break through, and that the cheap-to-produce movies that were Blumhouse's bread and butter (their biggest hits have included Get Out, Us, The Invisible Man and the Purge franchise) no longer cut it. 'We need to up the budgets,' he insisted. 'People need theatrical events.' Which is, I suppose, accurate. This year's most successful horror films had heavy promotional spends behind them, while even the most financially lucrative horrors of 2024 – meaning the low-cost, high-return likes of The Substance and Oz Perkins's Silence of the Lambs pastiche Longlegs – were transformed into must-see 'events' via relentless and effective marketing. But just as important is the actual quality of material on offer, with far too many modern horror movies settling for tedious mining of intellectual property and repetitive premises (Knives Out and Midsommar have created an unfortunate cottage industry of star-studded, eat-the-rich, religious-cult disappointments). Blumhouse have been particularly guilty of this over the last 18 months, tossing out a raft of movies that felt as if they were formed backwards from an already unimpressive elevator pitch: Night Swim (haunted pool!); AfrAId (haunted Alexa device!); House of Spoils (Ariana DeBose!). Things may, however, be looking up. As much as it pains me to slander a film that made smart use of Nineties stalwarts Freddie Prinze Jr and Jennifer Love Hewitt, it is something of a relief that I Know What You Did Last Summer couldn't get people in cinema seats last week. A largely serviceable but poorly directed slasher pastiche, the film may have lifted the story beats and faces from the 1997 original, but it failed at the things that truly matter: character development, suspense, memorable chase sequences. It seemed to prove that, when it comes to horror, box-office success in 2025 requires far more than just dusting off some old IP and hoping for the best. Hollywood does have a knack for taking all the wrong lessons from its success stories. (Just look at how Barbie's gargantuan box office has led to the development of loads of other movies about toys.) But wouldn't it be lovely if the triumph of Sinners sparked an influx of expensive, original horror movies moving forward – and not, well, Sinners 2. 'Weapons' is released 8 August
CNET
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNET
Avatar: Seven Havens, Invincible VS and More: Big Comic-Con 2025 Reveals So Far
San Diego Comic-Con 2025 kicked off Thursday and we've already gotten sneak peeks at Lego and Hot Wheels releases plus there's big news happening for TV shows, movies and games. We're excited to hear about Avatar: The Last Airbender, Tron: Ares, Gen V and Welcome to Derry, so we're riding along with fans as announcements and trailer drops come out. We'll be posting highlights here from the four-day affair to help you keep up with the hottest, weirdest and most interesting stuff that hits. Stay tuned for our daily updates as the weekend rolls on. Avatar: Seven Havens first look It's a 20-year anniversary celebration for Avatar: The Last Airbender, the award-winning animated series that aired on Nickelodeon. Thursday's Comic-Con panel brought together original creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino and voice cast Zach Tyler Eisen, Jennie Kwan, Michaela Jill Murphy, Jack DeSena (Sokka), Dante Basco (Zuko) and Dee Bradley Baker for a look at the past and present, including Avatar: Seven Havens. The new animated sequel series, which was originally announced in February, has 26 episodes and will be split into two installments. Fans will meet Avatar Pavi when the series debuts, but for now, here's a glimpse at the bender picking up the mantle. Nickelodeon Five Nights at Freddy's 2 The sequel from Blumhouse sees an unsuspecting group pull up to the creepy pizzeria, not knowing about the killer, life-like animatronics with nothing but evil in store. They clearly don't know about Freddy's history. Skeet Ulrich appeared in Hall H, announcing that he will be in the movie as "somebody with a very particular and specific past, and somebody who has a deep emotional tie to what's going on." For those paying attention, this is sort of a Scream reunion since Matthew Lillard is returning as villain William Afton. Aside from that, details for Ulrich's character are under wraps. The film hits theaters on Dec. 5. Percy Jackson and the Olympians, season 2 release date Pack up for Camp Half-Blood when the fantasy series returns, this time introducing Tantalus, Thalia and the goddess Athena to the story. The new season arrives on Disney Plus on Dec. 10, and fans will see Percy dealing with more than fantastical monsters: Grover goes missing and there's drama with friends and a new sibling. Twisted Metal season 2 sneak peek With a week left before the new episodes of Peacock's Grindhouse series returns, the show's main cast, which includes Anthony Mackie, Stephanie Beatriz, Anthony Carrigan and Joe Seanoa, along with showrunner Michael Jonathan Smith, hit the stage in Hall H to tease what's in store. Smith revealed two separate sneak peek clips for the new season. The first scene found Stu (played by Mike Mitchell) striving to be a better killer. With Sweet Tooth as his mentor, it looks like he has some lofty, murderous goals. Stu takes the crew out, but he missed all the major organs, which Sweet Tooth advised is a major no-no. You have to go for "the grapes, the apple, or the banana," the evil clown explains. The last victim to die recognizes Sweet Tooth, which brightens the killer's spirits, until he calls him "Big Baby." Yes, there's a notorious killer out there named "Big Baby" and it looks like Sweet Tooth is going to hunt him down now, too. Michael James Shaw stars as Axel in season 2 of Twisted Metal on Peacock. Peacock The next clip finds John Doe being vulnerable as he talks about living a life without any childhood memories. But, as he realizes, things could be much worse if he had all that knowledge. The big reveal in this clip comes towards the end as Axel (played by Michael James Shaw), the character who's attached to two giant wheels, comes barrelling through flames, all smiles. Get ready for a trip back into the wastes, Twisted Metal season 2 drops its first three episodes on July 31. Outlander, season 8 teaser Outlander's final season is due out early next year, ending the love-and-war saga for Jamie and Claire. How will their story -- and history -- play out? Starz shared a teaser for the last chapter, and Frank Randall's book has everyone on edge. Check out the clip, mark your calendar for this series' end and the beginning of the spinoff, Outlander: Blood of my Blood. Invincible VS trailer shows Battle Beast Gamers were treated to a trailer for the new Invincible VS, a bloody superhero game based on Robert Kirkman's animated Prime Video series. We've been following all the details for this upcoming release, but watch below to see Battle Beast bare his teeth in this latest character reveal. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is ending soon AMC served up a new trailer for season 3 of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, but Hall H news revealed the show is renewed for a fourth and final season. Season 3 sees Norman Reedus's Daryl and Melissa McBride's Carol heading to Spain in the new installment as they try to find their way home. Though production for season 4 starts soon, there aren't any details about its plot. In the meantime, fans can tune in on Sept. 7 for the next round.
See - Sada Elbalad
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
"Five Nights at Freddy's 2" Unveils Trailer
Yara Sameh The official trailer for 'Five Nights at Freddy's 2' has been unveiled, teasing the continuation of Freddy Fazbear's chilling reign. The sequel from Universal and Blumhouse has a new tagline: 'Anyone can survive five nights. This time, there will be no second chances.' Emma Tammi returns as director. Josh Hutcherson, star of the first film, also returns for the sequel, which includes cast members Matthew Lillard, Elizabeth Lail and Piper Rubio. The first film, which earned $297 million at the global box office, featured Hutcherson playing a security guard at Freddys Fazbear's Pizza. It went on to become Blumhouse's highest-grossing movie ever. Hutcherson told Variety last year that the huge success was unexpected. 'We hoped it would connect with audiences,' Hutcherson said. 'But I don't think that anybody, even on our side of things, expected it to really connect the way that it did.' Hutcherson also hinted to Esquire the follow-up would be 'scarier.' 'There's more animatronics being brought in, different animatronics being brought in, and the world just opens up in a big way,' he said to the publication. Murtada Elfadl reviewed the first film for Variety, writing that 'Hollywood has not been successful at turning video games into movies — a disappointing streak that 'Five Nights at Freddy's' fails to correct.' Elfadl added that 'there's not enough of the animatronic creatures. Despite their distinctive look, they are not used effectively for horror or hilarity, missing the mark on both counts.' 'Five Nights at Freddy's 2' hits theaters December 5. read more New Tourism Route To Launch in Old Cairo Ahmed El Sakka-Led Play 'Sayidati Al Jamila' to Be Staged in KSA on Dec. 6 Mandy Moore Joins Season 2 of "Dr. Death" Anthology Series Don't Miss These Movies at 44th Cairo Int'l Film Festival Today Amr Diab to Headline KSA's MDLBEAST Soundstorm 2022 Festival Arts & Culture Mai Omar Stuns in Latest Instagram Photos Arts & Culture "The Flash" to End with Season 9 Arts & Culture Ministry of Culture Organizes four day Children's Film Festival Arts & Culture Canadian PM wishes Muslims Eid-al-Adha News Israeli-Linked Hadassah Clinic in Moscow Treats Wounded Iranian IRGC Fighters Arts & Culture "Jurassic World Rebirth" Gets Streaming Date News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier Videos & Features Tragedy Overshadows MC Alger Championship Celebration: One Fan Dead, 11 Injured After Stadium Fall Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt Arts & Culture South Korean Actress Kang Seo-ha Dies at 31 after Cancer Battle Business Egyptian Pound Undervalued by 30%, Says Goldman Sachs Sports Get to Know 2025 WWE Evolution Results News "Tensions Escalate: Iran Probes Allegations of Indian Tech Collaboration with Israeli Intelligence" News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Eight-Year-Old Arabella Olivia Clark Lands Lead Role In Uni & Atomic Monster's Supernatural Horror Film ‘Other Mommy' From Rob Savage
EXCLUSIVE: Here's a young talent to watch: Eight-year-old Arabella Olivia Clark (Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere) has landed the lead role in Other Mommy, Universal and Atomic Monster's new supernatural horror film from director Rob Savage. Clark joins a cast that includes the previously announced Jessica Chastain, Jay Duplass and Dichen Lachman. More from Deadline Jessica Chastain To Star In Rob Savage Horror Film From Atomic Monster & Universal Based On Josh Malerman Novel 'Incidents Around The House' 'The Odyssey': Tickets For Christopher Nolan's Homer Epic On Sale This Week Universal Pictures Promotes Niels Swinkels To Focus Features International Distribution President Based on the book Incidents Around the House by Bird Box's Josh Malerman, the film centers on 8-year-old Bela (Clark), who lives in a home strained by her parents' troubled marriage, only to see her life further upended by a sinister entity she calls 'Other Mommy.' When this malevolent presence emerges from her closet, persistently asking 'Can I go inside your heart?', Bela refuses. But soon, Other Mommy's manifestations become increasingly aggressive, threatening the safety of Bela's family. The film is being produced for Universal by Atomic Monster/Blumhouse in association with Spin a Black Yarn. Succession's Nathan Elston adapted the screenplay. James Wan is producing, with Michael Clear, Judson Scott, Macdara Kelleher, Savage, Malerman and Ryan Lewis exec producing. Alayna Glasthal is the executive overseeing the film for Atomic Monster. The film falls under supernatural horror, one of the 24 thriving subgenres identified in a Blumhouse study conducted with Sage Outcomes, which surveyed over 2,000 horror fans and experts, as discussed at the company's inaugural Business of Fear event. Clark continues to be on a roll after landing three high-profile films last year. In 2024, she shot Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, starring Jeremy Allen White, where she plays Bruce Springsteen's sister, Virginia; 20th's remake of The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, where she plays Young Polly; and Lionsgate's thriller The Housemaid with Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar. Appearing prior to that on ABC's Not Dead Yet, the actress is repped by the Osbrink Agency, Brave Artists Management, and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About 'Stranger Things' Season 5 So Far 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery
