Blumhouse restructures, lays off six amid sluggish box office turnaround

Blumhouse is a production company that is closely associated with horror films. Led by Jason Blum, the company has produced titles like Paranormal Activity, Get Out, and the Insidious franchise. However, recently, the company has reportedly been going through a tough period and has let go of six employees.

Blumhouse has released some critically acclaimed and financially successful films across different genres over the years. Let's take a closer look at the details of this layoff and what the production company has planned for this year.

Blumhouse has laid off six of its employees

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According to Deadline, Blumhouse Productions recently laid off six employees. This reduction comes amid a series of projects that underperformed at the box office. These employees were from the film, casting, and television departments of the studio. The layoff is part of the company's restructuring process. The affected staff members include Haley Pigman (Creative Development executive), support staff members, among others.

Pigman was also part of the company's earlier release, The Woman in the Yard. In 2023, Blumhouse decided to downsize their television division after Chris McCumber resigned as division president. In April, Melissa Aouate was appointed as the president of the television section.

The layoffs come just weeks after the release of M3GAN 2.0, which did not perform well at the box office. However, none of the executives who were let go had worked on this film. Some of their upcoming projects include Black Phone 2 (October 17) and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (December 5).

The company is led by Jason Blum and Amy Israel, and it was founded in 2000 as Blum Israel Productions. Israel left the company in 2002, and it was rebranded as Blumhouse Productions. Initially, it focused on producing low-budget films across various genres. This model began in 2007 with the horror film Paranormal Activity. Made on a budget of $15,000, it grossed over $193 million at the box office. Since then, many of their films, especially in the horror genre, have performed well.

The layoffs reflect the market challenges that the entertainment industry has been facing after the pandemic. With changing viewing habits and fewer theatergoers, production companies are developing new strategies to keep things moving.