STACK #196 Feb 2021

FILM FEATURE

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David Duchovny, Michelle Monaghan and Cailee Spaeny

has become accustomed to getting his own way, something he does by gentle persuasion rather than utilising strong-arm tactics. Take, for instance, recruiting David Duchovny for The Craft: Legacy . The X-Files star is known for his dislike of horror films or playing the bad guy, yet Blum persuaded him to do both. “Well he changed his mind!” he laughs. “We met in New York about 18

months ago. It was the first time I’d ever met him and we had a great meeting

Getting David [Duchovny] on board was my only casting contribution to The Craft: Legacy . We’re big believers that scary movies don’t work unless you have great actors

and talked about all sorts of things and he said, ‘I wanna be in one of your movies!’ The Craft people thought that was great and I

of Andrew to come and join us in this,” he says. “I think if you’re reimagining someone’s work, it’s the right thing to do, to get them involved. I wouldn’t say I would never do it unless the originator was involved, because there’s actually one thing that I’m about to do where the originator won’t do it, but I always try, like I did with Halloween . I went to John and said, ‘I don’t really want to do Halloween again unless you join us as executive producer’, so that’s how I always think about it.” If Blum has been slow to embrace female directors, then there’s no denying what he’s done for the careers of veteran actresses Jamie Lee Curtis and Lin Shaye. “I love Lin and I also have a great partnership with Jamie Lee Curtis. With Halloween , we had the most successful opening of an actress her age.” In Blumhouse’s early years of domination, Blum was frequently described as Hollywood’s “disrupter”, but when you suggest that today he may represent the establishment, he sighs. “Oh no! Don’t say that. The day I become the establishment is the day I die!”

we have a list of people we like that we work with over and over again.” Given how

didn’t have to twist David’s arm because he was really into it and does a great job in the movie,” he tells us, noting how Blumhouse has a big casting department, considered unusual for a production company. “Getting David onboard was my only casting contribution to The Craft: Legacy . We’re big believers that scary movies don’t work unless you have great actors, so

Blumhouse’s fare includes many remakes, Blum has learned to tread cautiously, going to great pains to

include previous creative teams – involving John Carpenter in his Halloween reboots and inviting The Craft ’s original director- writer Andrew Fleming onboard in an executive producer capacity. “I thought it was very generous

• The Craft: Legacy is out on Feb 3

BLUMHOUSE DOWNUNDER Jason Blum is a big fan of Australian talent – Russell Crowe, Joel Edgerton, LeighWhannell and JamesWan all feature within the Blumhouse stable – producing The Loudest Voice,The Gift, Upgrade,The Invisible Man and the Insidious franchise, respectively. Looking ahead, Blum reveals he has exciting plans for Australia. “I can’t reveal the details just yet, but there’s one movie and oneTV series which we hope to make there in 2021. “They have a spectacular rebate and the crews and talent are really great. I’ve had an A+ experience working in Australia and we’re definitely going back.” Having visited Australia at least four times, he adds, “The first time I visited, I was invited by the Film Commission who took me on a tour of all the different places we could shoot, which was good because then we started shooting there. I visited the set of Upgrade and also did publicity for Halloween there and another press tour.”

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70 FEBRUARY 2021