Blumhouse is the biggest purveyor of horror in Hollywood right now. The studio has been behind a number of massive hits like Get Out and M3GAN, launching huge franchises like The Purge and Paranormal Activity. In recent years, the company has begun tackling previously existing IP, such as the recent Halloween trilogy. Next up? An adaptation of the very popular video game Dead by Daylight. Well, maybe not next since the studio has no intention of rushing this one just to meet an arbitrary release date.
During New York Comic Con, Blumhouse held a massive panel dubbed Blum Fest, which highlighted much of what the company has coming down the pipeline. During the panel, Blumhouse head Jason Blum touched on the Dead by Daylight movie, which was first announced early last year. Blum didn’t have a lot to say but the executive made it clear (via Comicbook.com) that they are “Working on the script” while adding that “we don’t put movies in the calendar until we have the right script.” Speaking further, Blumm made it clear that they’re willing to be patient.
“I hope we get a script that we love. We’re working on a script, but it could be five years, it could be 12 months. You just don’t know. You can’t make the movie until the script is right, and you don’t know how long that’ll take.”
When the film was first announced, it was revealed that horror master James Wan (Insidious, Saw) is going to produce the film via his Atomic Monster production company alongside Blum. The two companies recently merged, which only makes the whole enterprise more of a powerhouse. No word yet on who is penning the screenplay.
Rushing a process is often not a path to success. Case in point, Blumhouse spent years developing last year’s Five Nights at Freddy’s movie. The result? A movie that made nearly $300 million at the global box office despite also being available to stream on Peacock in the U.S. the same day it hit theaters. It’s Blumhouse’s highest-grossing movie ever. Blum emphasized they took some lessons away from that one.
“It took 10 years to make Five Nights at Freddy’s, and I think one of the reasons the movie worked is because we spent 10 years trying to get it right.”
Much in the same way that Blumhouse has spent years developing the right take on a new Spawn movie, they may spend years on DbD. The good news is that the game remains incredibly popular and isn’t at risk of going out of style any time soon. Still, fans who are eagerly awaiting this one would do well to temper expectations so far as expediency goes.
The Dead by Daylight movie remains without a release date but stay tuned. For more, check out the first poster for next year’s Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.
