The Biggest Takeaways from BlumFest 2026

The back-to-back successes of Obsession and Backrooms have cracked Hollywood’s spine like a One-Wish Willow, sending producers into an online feeding frenzy. Content creators fluent in the uniquely liminal stylings of internet horror are in high demand, and as the production house with behind these hits (Atomic Monster was one of many co-producers on Backrooms) thecombined Blumhouse/Atomic Monster horror factory is under considerable pressure to keep the wave going.

With that mission in mind, studio bosses Jason Blum and James Wan have been on a spending spree, investing in talent that’s less L.A. and more logged on. At New York Comic-Con’s Blumfest panel, Jason Blum and James Wan offered their first peeks at what that looks like.

YouTuber MatPat, best known for the “Theorist” family of channels that break down the science and theory behind games, movies, and pop culture, moderated the event but also was the subject of its first announcement: a deal to develop a feature film based on indie horror game Amanda the Adventurer. A game in the mold of Five Nights at Freddy’s, it’s the sort of under-the-radar spooky hit that content creators love to champion, and something that can point to the aforementioned Freddy’s  — which remainsa box office champ even if it’sa critical chump — and the similar YouTuber-produced indie horror game adaptationIron Lung as precedent for success.

Like Kane Parsons, who built out Backrooms as a series of YouTube shorts and brought a built-in (and arguably untapped) audience with him to the box office, Blumhouse is clearly casting about for the next content creator to elevate, getting even more directly involved with TikToker Heidi Wong, who beams horror movie recommendations, recreations of horror film scenes, and original short stories to 5.9 million followers on the regular. Bringing Wong out to the Comic-Con stage, Jason Blum announced that Blumhouse would be commissioning Wong to create an original horror short, with the possibility of said short becoming a feature down the line — a move that seems like a pilot program for seeing if short-form content creators might have feature film chops.

And Blumhouse’s next film based on a creepy internet horror story was shown to be well underway with next fall’s Seasons, from Companionwriter-director Drew Hancock, who recorded a video that revealed Ron Perlman would be joining a cast that includes Lily James, Jack Reynor, Elizabeth McGovern, and Wes Studi. Seasons adapts the viral Reddit short story “My Wife and I Bought a Ranch” by Matt and Harrison Query, which was also adapted into a novel called Old Country by the Querys in 2022.

Blum opened the panel by talking about the Blumhouse strategy of using massive success to fuel bold bets, and it’s notable to see how many of those bets are on online creatives in some form or another, whether it’s trusting them to develop something their audience will love, developing a personality into a filmmaker, or just adapting another bit of really good spooky online fiction.

Blumhouse’s 2027 release slate is also full of attempts to revitalize fading franchises: Mike Flanagan’s The Exorcist: Martyrs premiered its trailer with Scarlett Johansson and Chiwetel Ejiofor, followed by a with a brief Q&A from Flanagan and Ejiofor.

Undertonedirector Ian Tuason appearedppeared to discussthe recent news of producing a new Saw film with co-creator Leigh Whannel after Blumhouse bought a stake in the franchise. The new Sawwill come from Beware Boiúna director Mike P. Nelson

Curry Barker and Cooper Tomlinson revealed the artwork for their next project, Anything But Ghosts, toward the end of the panel. The duo who worked on Obsession together, one of 2026’s biggest hits, said Anything But Ghostswill continue to “subvert” horror movie tropes. Both will star as the central con-artist ghost hunters who stumble upon a real ghost during one of their scams.

– Other Mommydirector Rob Savage appeared to tease his new original film Molepeople, starring Lakeith Stanfield — who walked out on stage to his own music.

– The Hunt and Mare of Easttown director Craig Zobel has been tapped to direct Something Is Killing the Children, based on the hit long-running comic by fan-favorite writer James Tynion IV and artist Werther Dell’Edera

The hit Broadway adaptation of Paranormal Activity has been extended until February 28, 2027, so theatergoers will have ample opportunity to be scared well into the winter.

The Biggest Takeaways from BlumFest 2026