Jason Blum Admits Defeat, Says ‘It’ ‘Eviscerated’ His ‘Paranormal Activity’ Box Office Record

“Stephen King is the new king once again,” “Get Out” producer tells TheWrap

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Now that New Line Cinema’s “It” has quickly floated to the status of highest-grossing R-rated horror movie opening ever, Blumhouse founder and CEO Jason Blum is dealing with some mixed feelings. You see, “It” defeated his record.

“First of all, ‘It’ didn’t break our record,” ‘It’ trounced it, ‘It’ destroyed it, ‘It’ eviscerated our record,” he told TheWrap with a laugh.

Bringing in $123.4 million, the horror hit about Pennywise the Clown grossed more than double in its opening weekend than the previous record holder, “Paranormal Activity 3,” a Blumhouse film that made $52.6 million when it opened in 2011. As Blum, who has been bandied about as the new King of Horror following the success of Jordan Peele’s “Get Out,” told us: “‘It’ broke all of our records.”

“A part of me is very happy that the scary movie business is alive and well, we get to make a lot more scary movies,” said Blum, who we caught up with while he promoted Universal Studio’s Halloween Horror Nights, a seasonal theme park attraction that highlights three of his movies this year. “But another part of me is outraged that our record was eviscerated in such a manner!”

When asked whether he’s screened “It,” he said, “I haven’t seen it. I’m dying. I was on vacation until yesterday. I’m embarrassed to say it.”

It’s true. The micro-budget King of Horror hasn’t seen one of the biggest horror movies of all time.

“Stephen King is the King of Horror now. I’m not the King of Horror,” he corrected. “I’m the Prince of Horror. Stephen King is the new king. That’s my quote: Stephen King is the new king once again.”

The film adaptation of King’s “It” also grossed more than double of the roughly $60 million analysts had predicted. In the process, the film’s $123 million-plus take is now the biggest opening weekend in September, the biggest horror movie opening weekend, and the second biggest opening weekend for an R-rated film, just behind “Deadpool’s” $132.4 million last year.

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