‘I Still Have To Apologize To Jason Blum Every Time I See Him,’ Admits Mike Flanagan After Getting Asked About Ouija Franchise
Even the most steady creative talents have something they feel they must apologize for in their careers. That’s still true on the 2025 movie schedule, as a recent event had The Life of Chuck adaptor Mike Flanagan issuing his own apology to Blumhouse mastermind Jason Blum. And as it turns out, this story comes from an unexpected project: Flanagan’s 2016 prequel Ouija: Origin of Evil.
I say that this is unexpected because while most see the follow-up to 2014’s Ouija as a marked improvement, there was one key category the picture failed to capture. Speaking at an event at the newly christened SXSW London festival (via Variety), Mike Flanagan explained this slightly shocking mea culpa thusly:
It was really fun. But the funny thing was that it really underperformed compared to ‘Ouija’ one, so I killed that franchise, which I still have to apologize to Jason Blum for every time I see him.
I get that financials can be quite a touchy subject when it comes to potential franchises. Seeing as director/co-writer Stiles White’s Ouija made $103.6 million worldwide, comparing that figure to its prequel’s $81.7 million showing does seem a bit unfavorable.
But even with a slightly increased production budget cited for the second film, Mike Flanagan’s apology still seems a bit out of left field. As our own Eric Eisenberg’s Ouija: Origin of Evil review described the picture as fitting into a pattern of “great sequels to critically-reviled originals,” it’s hard to look at a movie that achieves that feat as something inferior.
So while there was a slight dip in the money that came into the till, the reactions from critics and audiences could have been enough to take another spin with the planchette. (Especially after Origin of Evil’s dark ending left the door open.) With this second Ouija entry on offer for those with a Netflix subscription, the fanbase for this picture might even be growing stronger at this very moment.
Of course, if this happened to take place without the Doctor Sleep helmer in the driver’s seat, that goodwill could have still evaporated. Which means that even if a hypothetical Ouija 3 flamed out without his involvement, the good-natured Mike Flanagan would have probably apologized anyway.
That just shows you how subjective apologies can be, and clearly Jason Blum isn’t sweating Ouija’s failure to launch a new franchise. If he were truly upset, he probably wouldn’t have tapped Mike Flanagan to take over the new Exorcist reboot, which follows the pretty huge flameout that was The Exorcist: Believer. Seeing as how that movie killed an actual planned trilogy, Origin of Evil practically feels like a “no harm/no foul” scenario.
Those of you looking to let that Flanagan magic wash over you should head to the movies this weekend. At least, that’s if you trust Stephen King’s review of The Life of Chuck, which is heading into wide release this weekend. Now there’s a situation where an apology couldn’t be further from the table.
