Blumhouse has become a major powerhouse in the entertainment industry by making low-budget, good quality horror movies that achieve massive success at the box office. Movies like PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and INSIDIOUS have made hundreds of millions worldwide while being made for a grand total of almost nothing. The studio capitalizes on sequels when it can, and Jason Blum is very interested in the shared universe angle and believes we could see a series crossover of spooky things on the big screen in the future.
During a press run for INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY, Blum talked with CinePop and was asked about wanting to do a crossover of some of the studio's franchises, which he expressed interest in doing years ago with INSIDIOUS and SINISTER. He said that though they have yet to figure out a right way to do a crossover he’s sure it will happen at some point:
I hope so. I want to. We almost did Insidious and Sinister and I still feel like we might do that so, I think so. I think we’re going to cross our worlds at some point. I don’t know how yet but we’re gonna try.”
The INSIDIOUS and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY films have been quite successful for Blumhouse, being consistent money earners despite mostly mediocre reviews (sans the first films). THE LAST KEY recently opened to $29 million, besting INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3’s $22 million. The first SINISTER movie was a hit, making $77 million worldwide off a $3 million budget, but the sequel made $52 million with over 3x the budget. There has since been no SINISTER 3 in the works, but in this same interview, Blum said he wants to do a fifth installment of INSIDIOUS.
A lot of Blumhouse's movies deal with demons trying to possess people. particularly small children. With INSIDIOUS, the movies often involve a haunted realm (The Further) filled with numerous creepy entities. SINISTER, on the other hand, involves the malicious deeds of one evil character, Bughuul. Perhaps Bughuul could come over into the INSIDIOUS world via The Further, and start messing around in that world. I don’t know. I’m not an idea guy.
INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY is in theaters now.