Jason Blum on The Forever Purge, Firestarter, and Scott Derrickson's The Black Phone
38With director Everardo Gout's (Days of Grace) The Forever Purge opening in theaters this weekend, I recently had the chance to talk with producer Jason Blum about the sequel. During the wide-ranging interview, Blum talked about why he’ll never direct a movie, the way writer James DeMonaco is able to see the future, and how you can watch The Purge movies for entertainment or you can talk about the subtext the film deals with like racism and immigration.
In addition, with Blum involved in so many other projects, we also talked about the status of James DeMonaco’s Once Upon a Time in Staten Island, when they’re going to be filming the next Halloween sequel, Halloween Ends, and Blumhouse’s upcoming adaptation of the Stephen King classic Firestarter. For fans of Firestarter and curious about director Keith Thomas’ take on the material, Blum says:
“I love what I’m seeing. I love the dailies. I’ve very happy with the job Keith is doing and I think fans will be very happy and I think Stephen King will be very happy most importantly.”
Another project I’m both excited and curious about is Scott Derrickson’s The Black Phone, which will re-team Ethan Hawke with his Sinister director as well as co-writer C. Robert Cargill. While not much is known excerpt it’s based on the novella The Black Phone by horror author Joe Hill, both Blum and Derrickson seem to think the film came out great. Blum told me The Black Phone:
“Is definitely one of the creepiest movies we’ve ever done. Scott thinks it is his best movie. I’m such a fan of Scott’s…I really like all of his movies. I loved Sinister but I will certainly say it is one of his best movies. Maybe the best movie he has ever made.”
Finally, while you might think someone like Blum who has produced close to two-hundred projects can get anything made, that is not the case. He told me he’s had many things fall apart and mentioned the great script he had for The Devil's Bargain about Steve Bannon with Steven Frears attached to direct and how he couldn’t make it happen.
Check out what Jason Blum had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.
The Forever Purge is about a couple named Adela and Juan (played by Ana de la Reguera and Tenoch Huerta respectively) who find themselves stranded on a Texas ranch while fleeing from a drug cartel. There, they wind up at the mercy of a group of outsiders who plan to unlawfully continue their own Purge, and turn against the couple to eliminate them, as well as anyone else who might come to their aid. According to Gout, "It’s an amazing story of Latinos and Americans coming together to overcome despair and evil." The film also stars Josh Lucas, Cassidy Freeman, Leven Rambin, Alejandro Edda and Will Patton.
Jason Blum:
Has he ever thought about directing?
What projects has he not been able to make and why?
How you can watch The Purge movies for pure entertainment or you can get into the subtext and some of the things the films are addressing like racism and immigration.
How our country has gotten worse since the first Purge movie was released.
How James DeMonaco is able to see the future and what is coming.
Is Frank Grillo coming back for another Purge film?
While DeMonaco has said this is the last Purge movie Blum is pushing for one more.
When are they going to be filming Halloween Ends?
What can he say about Scott Derrickson’s The Black Phone?
What can he say about Firestarter and how the shoot has been going?
When is James DeMonaco’s Once Upon a Time in Staten Island coming out? When will we see a trailer?
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