Blumhouse CEO Jason Blum has explained why he wanted to simultaneously release Halloween Kills in theaters and on Peacock.
Speaking with Collider for Amazon Prime Video's Welcome to the Blumhouse film series, Blum revealed that he was the instigator behind Halloween Kills' day-and-date release plan. He also admitted that the decision was ultimately determined by a poor distribution experience he had encountered with another slasher film he produced and released last year.
"It was my idea to do it. [Peacock] didn't approach me. I approached them," Blum affirmed. "I, like everyone else, am a big believer in the theatrical experience. I think eventually I think there should be windows. I think Universal's strategy of the three-week window is a great strategy, but I had a bad distribution experience with Freaky. That movie is a great movie, and it didn't get seen because the distribution of it got all twisted up. My fault."
Freaky is a slasher comedy starring Kathryn Newton as a high schooler who unintentionally swaps bodies with a middle-aged serial killer, portrayed by Vince Vaughn. The film received generally favorable reviews from critics following its release in theaters in November last year, yet it only managed to pull in $16.2 million at the worldwide box office.
"I didn't want to go through that experience again," Blumhouse said, explaining his decision further and reflecting back on Freaky's box office performance. "I didn't want to have a movie that I'm really proud of that I think is great and have there be an excuse why people didn't see it. So I'm the one who pitched Universal. And then I pitched Jamie and David, and it was my idea. I stand behind it. I'm glad that we're doing it."
Halloween Kills takes place right after 2018's Halloween and sees Michael Myers escape his fate to once again go after Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode, Judy Greer's Karen, Andi Matichak's Allyson, and more. In this story, however, the Strode family joins other survivors of Myers' first attack to band together to end his reign of terror once and for all.
The latest entry in the Halloween franchise will be released in theaters on October 15 and will arrive on Peacock the same day. It will be available to all Peacock Premium and Premium Plus subscribers at no extra cost and is taking a similar strategy to Universal's The Boss Baby: Family Business, which also changed to a day-and-date release plan.
Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.