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After making Lootera (2013), Hasee Toh Phasee (2014) and Queen (2014), Phantom Films will be joining hands with two international studios to produce horror films in India.
The production house, promoted by directors from Bollywood, has announced a merger with Blumhouse Productions and Ivanhoe Pictures and will produce at least 10 films over five years under the joint venture. Phantom Films will continue producing other mainstream movies as well.
Ivanhoe Pictures, an Asia-focused film and television production company that launched last year, will finance the films, the Indian partner will produce and Blumhouse Productions will help oversee the creative part, drawing from its experience of creating horror franchises like Paranormal Activity, The Purge, Insidious and Sinister. The films will be released in India under the Blumhouse brand and the distribution will be decided on every film.
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Phantom Films is India's first production house promoted by directors Anurag Kashyap (Gangs of Wasseypur), Vikramaditya Motwane (Lootera), Vikas Bahl (Queen) and entrepreneur Madhu Mantena. The house has focused on romance, drama and comedy. However, under the co-production deal, it will strive to reinvent the horror genre.
“In India, film-makers have not focused on horror as a genre. All over the world, you see horror movies from countries breaking out and making an impact. But in India, barring a couple of attempts by the Bhatts and Ram Gopal Verma, no one has really developed the genre. We feel there is huge untapped potential in the country for good horror films. We want to make movies that will scare people,” says Mantena. While India has been churning out horror films, box office success has eluded this genre. There have been hits like Bhoot and 1920, but consistency in content has been missing, feels Mantena. Also, movies like Raaz, a mix of music, romance and horror, are different from the content dished out by the West or Japan and South Korea.
He adds Blumhouse Productions has a good record not only in terms of the popularity of the horror movies, but also in return on investment. The studio has one of best returns on investment in Hollywood and a similar model of operations will be followed in India. Movies made under the agreement will be in the range of Rs 5-7 crore each. This will give the financier and producers enough elbow room to expand margins.
“Horror is a high-concept genre. It is not mandatory to have a big name in the cast to get eyeballs. If the concept and execution are scary, people will come to theatres. The popularity of Hollywood horror films on Indian television gives us an idea of how starved the population is for good horror content. Satellite rights will also form an important part of our business model, though it is too early to say anything about deals,” says Mantena.
The returns from the box office and sale of broadcast and music rights of the movies produced under the agreement will be shared by the three partners.
The effort will be to develop concepts and scripts from India, for Indian audiences in Indian languages. If a movie shows potential, the producers will not shy away from taking it global, though the primary goal will be to provide horror content to Indian audiences. The first film is expected to hit screens in the last quarter of 2015. Kashyap will be directing one of first projects and teams are scouting for potential scripts.
