As part of its first-ever The Business of Fear event examining the growing power of horror subgenres, Blumhouse has announced that Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer will return as Ma in a sequel to the hit Blumhouse revenge horror film. The original 2019 film, directed by Tate Taylor, earned more than $60 million in global box office, but also spawned hundreds of memes, with audiences embracing Ma as an iconic horror character for the ages. The fandom helped make Ma a phenomenon at Blumhouse’s recent Halfway to Halloween festival.

“Ma has proven to be a social phenomenon since its release in 2019, with fans eagerly embracing the film and Octavia’s iconic performance as Ma. Ma likes to say ‘don’t make me drink alone,’ so we’re thrilled Octavia will join us again for a second round,” said Jason Blum, Founder/CEO, Blumhouse.

The Revenge subgenre is one of 24 thriving subgenres Blumhouse identified in a research study last year that aimed to assess the state of horror. Additional examples include Survival, Slasher, Psychological Thriller, and more. During its first The Business of Fear event today, Blumhouse CEO/Founder Jason Blum and President Abhijay Prakash, Atomic Monster Director of Creative Development Alayna Glasthal, and horror analyst/author Stephen Follows spoke about the ways in which horror has grown and expanded in recent years, with subgenres an important way to entertain the diverse tastes of its audience.

*The 2024 Genre Categorization Survey (2,000 respondents) aimed to classify 100 prominent horror films from the past 50 years into sub-genres. This research was conducted by Sage Outcomes and commissioned by Blumhouse in July 2024.