Blumhouse is one of the biggest names inhorror, and one of their four-year-old movies has found new streaming success. The production company now regularly releases anywhere between four and 12 movies a year, partnering with distributors like Warner Bros., Universal, Lionsgate, and Paramount, as well as streamers like Netflix, Prime Video, and Peacock. Though the stories, casts, and overall quality for Blumhouse movies vary from title to title, the films are generally made for less than $20 million, and they’re generally horror or horror-adjacent.
2020 was a complicated year for Hollywood with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemiccausing global theatrical shutdowns, but severalBlumhouse movieswere still able to break through. The company’s biggest success story of the year is, of course, Leigh Whannell’sThe Invisible Man, butFreakyandFantasy Islandwere also hits. Other titles went straight to VOD, likeYou Should Have LeftandThe Craft: Legacy. However, one of Blumhouse’s more notable 2020 titles was hit hard by the pandemic, though it is now finding new success on streaming.
The Hunt Has Become A Top 10 Netflix Hit
The Blumhouse Horror-Thriller Is Reaching New Audiences
2020’sThe Hunthas now found success on Netflix following its original theatrical release in 2020. Directed by Craig Zobel, the film follows Betty Gilpin’s Crystal and 11 other strangers as they wake up together in the wilderness, soon discovering that they are being hunted by wealthy elites for sport.The Huntwas a controversial film before it even released due to misinformation about its political subject matter.Additionally, it hit theaters just a week before the pandemic shutdowns, grossing only $12 million worldwide on its $14 million budget before pivoting to a PVOD release.
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Following this disappointing box office result, however,Netflixnow reveals thatThe Huntis the ninth most popular movie on the service globally for the week of November 18 through 24, with 3.7 million views accumulating a total of 5.5 million viewing hours. The film makes the top 10 in 22 countries in total, including Brazil, Germany, Greece, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey (where it hit No. 1), and Vietnam. ThoughThe HuntbeatsRob Peace(2024), it falls behind other titles likeMadagascar: Escape 2 Africa(2008) andMeet Me Next Christmas(2024). Check out the full top 10 list below:
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Ready or Not
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What The Hunt’s Netflix Success Means For Its Legacy
How The Blumhouse Release Fared With Critics
After being kneecapped by the onset of the pandemic and the closure of theaters,The Hunt’s newfound Netflix successsignals that audiences are now finally finding the 2020 film. The Blumhouse release’s popularity also comes at an interesting time for the U.S. following the 2024 election. One key element of the movie is its satirical take on the large political divide between the left and the right in American politics, so it is notable that the movie is now surging in viewership.
Blumhouse head Jason Blum addressedThe Huntcontroversy in a 2021 interview withComicBook.com: “When I get asked what’s my biggest regret running the company, it’s that no one got to see The Hunt because of that controversy.”
While the movie is being watched, this does not necessarily mean that it is being liked. The critical response to the horror moviesuggests that its satire isn’t entirely successful.The Huntreviewshave only earned the movie a 57% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics mostly agreeing that, though it features some fun action, the political themes aren’t particularly deep or thoughtful. The audience score is higher at 66%, but this is still quite lukewarm. Clearly, however, despite this,The Huntis clearly now connecting with viewers on Netflix in some way.
Our Take On The Hunt’s Streaming Success
It Could Not Have Come At A Better Time
The Huntfinding new life on Netflix is the perfect capper for Blumhouse’s 2024. Because many movies were rescheduled during the 2023 strikes when productions were put on pause as writers and actors fought for fair pay,Blumhouse’s slate has been less robust in 2024 than in previous years. While all but one of their 2024 horror movies released in theaters were financially successful, only theJames McAvoy remakeSpeak No Evilshowed major signs of life at the box office. Below, see a breakdown of Blumhouse’s 2024 slate and how it performed:
$15 million
$54.8 million
~$13 million
$43.8 million
$12 million
$12.6 million
$76.7 million
However, Blumhouse has an incredibly strong slate ofhorrortitles set to premiere in 2025. This includes theLeigh Whannell rebootWolf Man, the sequelsM3GAN 2.0,The Black Phone 2, andFive Nights at Freddy’s 2, new movies from notable genre directors Jaume Collet-Serra (The Woman in the Yard) and Christopher Landon (Drop), and an untitledInsidiousproject. Although 2024 was slow, the newfound streaming success ofThe Hunttoward the end of the yearhelpskeep Blumhouse in the conversation as the studio revs up for what could turn out to be one of its biggest years ever.
The Hunt
Cast
Set against a politically strained backdrop, The Hunt is a horror-action film that follows a group of captured Americans who are set loose in a booby-trapped ground where wealthy elite citizens hunt them for sport. As the game progresses, the elites notice something is off – and they’re right. One of the unwilling participants knows the game better than they do, and she aims to turn the tables on them.
