Other Mommy Review Backlash: Jason Blum Responds at NYCC

Jason Blum addressed the backlash over the film's title at Blumhouse's NYCC panel, where the studio also unveiled Saw 11, a Violent Night sequel and reboots of Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project.

Other Mommy is getting hammered by critics. It's also making money hand over fist. Jason Blum doesn't seem too bothered by either fact.

At Blumhouse Atomic Monster's 90-minute panel at New York Comic-Con on Friday night, Blum and James Wan spent most of their time looking forward instead of defending the film currently dividing horror audiences. When the subject did come up, it was mostly about the title, not the reviews.

Viewers online had wondered why the film wasn't called Other Mother, a choice that would have rhymed and leaned harder into its obvious Coraline echoes. Turns out that was the plan. "Well, funnily enough, my partner James Wan wanted to call it 'Other Mother,' and he got outvoted," Blum told the NYCC crowd, according to Variety. "This is probably why we should always listen to James Wan."

That's about as much self-reflection as the panel offered on the reviews. The bigger news was everything coming next.

The slate: Saw, Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity and more

Kristen Bell is joining David Harbour in Violent Night 2, playing Mrs. Claus. Bell said Harbour called her out of nowhere about a sequel she didn't even know was in the works, then told her to come to Winnipeg. She said he pitched Mrs. Claus as someone "every bit as capable as Santa is," and that sold her.

Saw 11 is officially moving forward too, after years stuck in development. Mike P. Nelson will direct, but Blum made clear the franchise's original architects are steering it. James Wan and Leigh Whannell, who made the first film together, are back in creative control, something Blum said he insisted on once the Blumhouse-Atomic Monster merger cleared the path for the project to restart.

The studio is also rebooting two of its foundational franchises. Paranormal Activity gets a new theatrical version from director Ian Tuason, out May 21, alongside news that the stage adaptation on Broadway is extending its run into February. Blum called the original Paranormal Activity personally significant, telling the NYCC crowd it's "really how Blumhouse started."

The Blair Witch Project is getting reworked too, with Wan talking up incoming director Dylan Clark as part of a wave of online filmmakers the studio is deliberately choosing because they grew up on these films rather than picking names at random.

Elsewhere, Craig Zobel will direct a live-action adaptation of the comic Something Is Killing the Children, with Blumhouse developing a parallel adult animated series helmed by the comic's co-creator James Tynion IV. And on the gaming side, Blumhouse's long-teased title Grave Seasons finally gets a release date, March 9, with Fortnite tie-ins tied to the Purge's Lady Liberty character planned for this year's Fortnightmares event.

None of it answers the actual question hanging over Other Mommy, which is whether a title fight and a Coraline comparison will matter once the box office numbers settle. For now, Blumhouse seems content to let the money do the talking while it builds out everything else.