EXCLUSIVE: Blumhouse Atomic Monster horror films have grossed north of $1 billion at the global box office year-to-date.
Note, it’s the second time that the combined labels have yielded $1 billion since their 2024 merger after last year. However, if you were to count the labels’ grosses combined prior to the merger, this would be the third time in four years that Blumhouse and Atomic Monster titles have grossed over $1B in a given year. Read, in 2023, Blumhouse and Atomic Monster movies collectively generated more than $1.07B WW across five horror pics: Five Nights at Freddy’s, The Nun II, Insidious: The Red Door, M3GAN, and The Exorcist: Believer.
The production company of Jason Blum and James Wan flew past the billion mark this past weekend with the $60M global bow of Insidious: Out of the Further, the label’s fourth horror title of the year, but also Focus Features’ TIFF Midnight acquisition, Obsession, just grossed a half billion with Universal reporting $501.6M worldwide.
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Along with Lee Cronin’s The Mummy ($90.5M) and Backrooms ($396.5M WW), those four pics were made on combined production budgets of $50.75M, a return of roughly 20x that cost, all in the first eight months of the year. Obsession was financed by Capstone for $750K, Backrooms was co-financed by Chernin Entertainment and A24 for under $10M, Sony Screen Gems/Stage 6’s Insidious: Out of the Further was made for a net $18M while New Line’s Lee Cronin’s The Mummy was made for $22M.
Curry Barker’s Obsession Is now the highest grossing film in Blumhouse Atomic Monster’s history (also Focus Features’) dethroning Conjuring: The Last Rites ($499.2M). In regards to movies acquired out of film festivals by film distributors, Obsession is also the highest grossing ever for an acquisition.
Off its production cost, Obsession has returned more than 650 times its budget, and it is the lowest-budgeted horror film to top the North American box office since Paranormal Activity in 2009, the film that launched Blumhouse. The company continues its successful partnership with filmmaker Curry Barker on his second feature film, Anything But Ghosts, which Focus Features will release in 2027, and the upcoming untitled film for Universal Film Group.
Backrooms, directed by Kane Parsons, is A24’s highest grossing movie ever both domestic and worldwide.
“When we brought Blumhouse and Atomic Monster together, we shared one belief: that the best horror comes from bold filmmakers. Lee, Curry, Kane, and Jacob have terrified audiences and made this a momentous year for horror, and we could not be prouder of what Blumhouse Atomic Monster continues to achieve as one company,” said Blumhouse Atomic Monster co-founders Jason Blum and James Wan.
Insidious: Out of the Further, directed by Jacob Chase, is currently in theaters and holds the highest Rotten Tomatoes audience score of any film in the Insidious franchise at 70%. Closing out the year is Blumhouse Atomic Monster’s highly anticipated Other Mommy, starring Oscar winner Jessica Chastain and directed by Rob Savage, will be released theatrically on Oct. 9 by Universal.
Facts Only
* Blumhouse and Atomic Monster horror films have grossed north of $1 billion globally year-to-date.
* This combined label achieved $1 billion in grosses for the second time since the 2024 merger.
* Prior to the merger, Blumhouse and Atomic Monster titles had collectively grossed over $1 billion across four years.
* In 2023, five films under the labels generated more than $1.07 billion worldwide: *Five Nights at Freddy’s*, *The Nun II*, *Insidious: The Red Door*, *M3GAN*, and *The Exorcist: Believer*.
* *Insidious: Out of the Further* had a $60 million global bow.
* *Obsession*, acquired by Focus Features, grossed $501.6 million worldwide.
* *The Mummy* grossed $90.5 million.
* *Backrooms* grossed $396.5 million worldwide.
* Total production budgets for these four films were $50.75 million.
* *Obsession* is the highest-grossing film in Blumhouse Atomic Monster’s history, surpassing *Conjuring: The Last Rites* ($499.2M).
* *Backrooms* is A24’s highest-grossing movie domestically and worldwide.
* *Insidious: Out of the Further* holds a 70% Rotten Tomatoes audience score for the Insidious franchise.
Executive Summary
Full Take
The narrative emphasizes rapid, high-yield commercial success built around a specific constellation of filmmakers (Blum, Wan, Cronin, Barker) and intellectual property synergy. The persistence of over $1 billion grossing in this space—three times in four years prior to the merger, and twice post-merger—suggests a structural phenomenon where a specific aesthetic intersects with market appetite for horror cinema, facilitated by a streamlined production and distribution structure. The fact that *Obsession* is now the highest earner in the label's history shifts focus from sheer volume to proven artistic/commercial crossover potential, demonstrating that successful acquisitions (like those via Focus Features) can redefine internal metrics. Furthermore, the high ROI on low-budget films like *Obsession*, which has returned over 650 times its budget, challenges traditional cost-benefit analyses in entertainment and suggests a scalable model where creative risk is highly rewarded. The pattern points toward an ecosystem driven by established auteur talent rather than simple market momentum alone.
Patterns detected: ARC-0043 Motte-and-Bailey, ARC-0024 Ambiguity