Movies
Updated: Universal Shelves Blumhouse’s ‘Mercy’, Still Tinkering With ‘Mockingbird’…
The Hollywood Reporter has shared a truly bizarre piece that breaks down the producing model of Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions. The above article reads like a smear piece, sharing Blum’s micro-budget model (although, $5M a feature isn’t exactly “micro”), and how it affects everyone in the industry.
While none of that is our concern, there’s a bit of information on a few forthcoming Blumhouse-produced horror films that have gone MIA.
Explains THR, Mercy, directed by Haunting in Connecticut‘s Peter Cornwell, finished shooting a year ago and is among the Blumhouse films sitting on Universal’s shelf. Studio chairman Donna Langley says the studio still is not counting it out (meaning, they would just dump it to VOD like they did with Not Safe for Work).
The same goes for The Strangers director Bryan Bertino’s Mockingbird, which wrapped in May 2012; Langley confirms there are conversations about doing reshoots. Blum “goes into complete hiatus” on some films, she says, “and he’ll go back into production when he has time and cracked the idea or execution.” Update: Evan here – I reached out to Bertino’s company Unbroken Pictures. They confirm that there are “active discussions about reworking some elements in the film.”
Another film still missing from release since 2009(!) is Paramount Pictures’ Area 51, Blum’s movie that followed Oren Peli’s Paranormal Activity, who also directed the found-footage alien horror.
I guess the concept is to throw enough stuff against the wall that one or two will stick – films like Insidious and The Purge are good examples…
Zazie Beetz must fight her way through a New York City high-rise serving as a temple to Satan in They Will Kill You, and it’s officially set to make its global streaming debut next week.
They Will Kill You begins streaming exclusively on HBO Max on Friday, June 12. The film will debut on HBO linear on June 13 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Beetz leads the cast as Asia, who must survive the night at the Virgil, a demonic cult’s mysterious and twisted death-trap of a lair, before becoming their next offering. Patricia Arquette, Myha’La, Paterson Joseph, Tom Felton, and Heather Graham also star.
Kirill Sokolov (Why Don’t You Just Die!) directs from a script he co-wrote with Alex Litvak (Predators).
IT filmmaker Andy Muschietti produces alongside Barbara Muschietti and Dan Kagan. Executive producers include Sokolov, Litvak, Russell Ackerman, John Schoenfelder, and Carl Hampe.
The raucous action horror comedy delivers on blood-splattery fun, but was overshadowed by high profile sequel Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. It’s worth a watch for the talented cast, who commit to Sokolov’s zany action horror beats, include a rogue eyeball.
I wrote in my SXSW review, “Sokolov’s striking composition, dedication to carnage-fueled stunts and fight choreography, and an all-too-game cast anchored by a dedicated and fierce Zazie Beetz prevent this slight but energetic crowd-pleaser from careening off the rails.” And, “it’s so brazen and unabashed in its pursuit of cinematic thrills and splatstick chills that it succeeds in its aim, which is to deliver a riotously great time at the theater.”
More of a physical media fan? On June 30, 2026, They Will Kill You will be available to own on 4K UHD™, Blu-ray™, and DVD from online and physical retailers.
New Line Cinema/Nocturna’s “They Will Kill You,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
You must be logged in to post a comment.