In the Dateline episode “Hollywood Heat,” Josh Mankiewicz reports stories from the streets of the City of Angels. He interviews movie producer Jason Blum who’s revamping the horror genre in Hollywood. Mankiewicz also interviews Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis (who’s working on a Halloween revival with Blum), Get Out director and writer Jordan Peele, and Octavia Spencer, who’s reuniting with The Help director Tate Taylor for Blum’s new psychological horror film Ma.
Blum has been nominated for two Oscars: Best Motion Picture of the Year in 2017 for Get Out (written and directed by Peele) and in 2014 for Whiplash. The 49-year-old Blum has won two Emmy Awards for the 2015 HBO documentary The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst and the 2014 HBO movie The Normal Heart about a gay activist in the early 1980s who tries to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS (co-executive producers include Brad Pitt and Mark Ruffalo).
The original Halloween starring Jamie Lee Curtis is celebrating its 40th Anniversary in October, and Blumhouse Productions just released a photo of Michael Myers’ new mask. It’s available for pre-order, $59.99, at Trick or Treat Studios. The 2018 Halloween film will be in theaters on October 19.
Blum, a Vassar graduate, was born and raised in Los Angeles. His mother was an art professor, his father an art dealer. His first big time gig as a producer was for the 1995 Will Ferrell movie Kicking and Screaming. Blum is married to former Wall Street Journal writer, Harvard graduate Lauren A.E. Schuker. Dateline airs Fridays at 10pm on NBC.
