Horror movie juggernaut Blumhouse is jumping into podcasting with a series for iHeartRadio
- Blumhouse Productions and iHeartMedia will produce a series of horror podcasts for iHeartRadio, the two companies announced exclusively to Business Insider.
- The scripted fictional original stories will range from murder mysteries to science fiction.
- Popular stories could be developed into movies or TV shows that would be produced by both companies.
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Blumhouse is taking its horror storytelling pedigree to audio form.
On Thursday, the horror-movie juggernaut Blumhouse Productions ("Get Out," "Split," "The Purge" franchise) and iHeartMedia announced exclusively to Business Insider that they will team up to produce a series of original horror-focused fictional podcasts for iHeartRadio.
The two companies will collaborate to develop and produce the scripted podcasts that will include thrillers, murder mysteries, and science fiction audio-plays.
Kicking off the slate will be "The Mantawauk Caves," from writer-director Dan Bush ("The Signal," "The Vault"). The story will be a mix of social drama and supernatural horror as it follows three boys who enter a cave in the Appalachian Mountains with only one making it out alive.
"We're such avid fans of great podcasts at Blumhouse and we were eager to partner with iHeartRadio to curate a slate of dark, fictional stories together," said Jason Blum, founder of Blumhouse. "We're thrilled the partnership has already produced 'The Mantawauk Caves,' the first of what we hope are several successful collaborations."
"The Mantawauk Caves," which will be told over 12 episodes, is set to go live next year. It will be available across iHeartRadio broadcast radio stations and all its digital platforms, including the iHeartPodcast Network.
IHeartRadio is one of the leading podcast publishers, sitting at No. 2 overall behind only NPR, according to Podtrac.
"We think fiction is one of the next big genres in podcasting, tapping into the incredible imaginative power we all have - the theater of the mind," said Conal Byrne, president of the iHeartPodcast Network.
Stories that find an audience could potentially be developed into movie or TV show projects that would be produced by Blumhouse and iHeartMedia. This follows the recent trend of podcasts that have jumped over to moving image form, like Amazon's "Homecoming"; "Dirty John," which was on Bravo its first season and will be on USA Network for season two; and HBO's "2 Dope Queens."