Halloween Horror Nights 31 (UOR) - Speculation & Rumors

[BoSoxFan1022]

I don't understand what has caused everyone to believe that Stranger Things isn't coming, can anyone explain it to me?

 

[TheCodeMan95]

It also wasn’t a 7/3 split. It was supposed to be 5/5. Monsters is considered an IP and, because of the timing, it was easier to replace Eilish with an original than coordinate a new IP.

If I had to guess I'd imagine 6/4 and 5/5 will be the norm for the most part - aside from anomaly years like 2021.

 

[moistowlette1989]

I don't understand what has caused everyone to believe that Stranger Things isn't coming, can anyone explain it to me?

Here's my understanding. A moderator said that he wasn't sure Netflix was coming this year, and several other posters stated that they didn't think ST was coming either. Along with Netflix's current company-wide woes, the ball rolled from there. I don't know the moderator's history or if they are an "insider", but I have not yet heard an insider say anything about this. But the rumor has rolled to twitter and has now grown legs.

 

[londonwerecat]

As far as the IP/original split, I definitely don't see Uni ever going for something like a 7/3 split. I think 2021 was an anomaly since it could be marketed as "The 30th Anniversary" and "The First HHN since 2019"

To be honest, a 7/3 IP/original split would not be good. IPs are supposed to get people to the event and the originals make them stay. Originals are still a really important part of HHN.

 

[londonwerecat]

Here's my understanding. A moderator said that he wasn't sure Netflix was coming this year, and several other posters stated that they didn't think ST was coming either. Along with Netflix's current company-wide woes, the ball rolled from there. I don't know the moderator's history or if they are an "insider", but I have not yet heard an insider say anything about this. But the rumor has rolled to twitter and has now grown legs.

I'm going to add to this and a bit more, but from what I have heard from people, Stranger Things isn't coming and a few more things aren't coming either that haven't been talked about yet.

 

[SeventyOne]

I want to agree with this, but I also recognize that pull forward demand was and is a factor in almost every industry, and we can't assume people hungry for entertainment after being starved in 2020 will continue. As much as I like originals, I personally think massive, recognizable IPs are critical to the continued survival of the event. There always has to be a hook that gets people in the door beyond the diehards, who would attend the event for the originals even if the headlining IPs consisted of The Walking Dead, Scooby Doo, Squid Games, and Iron Maiden.

While I agree IPs are critical, and have been for decades, there are definite "classes" of IP. TWD and Stranger Things were God Tier and brought in huge crowds. Something like Killer Klowns or American Werewolf were more niche, primarily a bone to fans who would likely attend anyway. I think HHN will always need the former, however it can get them. (And with the consolidation of entertainment companies, that probably means looking beyond traditional horror IPs to things like musical artists and premier horror-adjacent TV.) The latter are a nice add, but probably not critical to the event.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

While I agree IPs are critical, and have been for decades, there are definite "classes" of IP. TWD and Stranger Things were God Tier and brought in huge crowds. Something like Killer Klowns or American Werewolf were more niche, primarily a bone to fans who would likely attend anyway. I think HHN will always need the former, however it can get them. (And with the consolidation of entertainment companies, that probably means looking beyond traditional horror IPs to things like musical artists and premier horror-adjacent TV.) The latter are a nice add, but probably not critical to the event.

Horror fan properties for the horror fans creating the event. I'd quit if the only thing I could design was corporate-mandated IPs! To me Killer Klowns, the originals, original streets, etc are all the "fun" stuff that keep the designers around/coming back.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Horror fan properties for the horror fans creating the event. I'd quit if the only thing I could design was corporate-mandated IPs! To me Killer Klowns, the originals, original streets, etc are all the "fun" stuff that keep the designers around/coming back.

To add onto this - I'm sure there's a bunch of IPs that the designers would enjoy doing. I can't imagine they have too much fun designing things like TWD. Maaaaybe Stranger Things, but I imagine the first time they did it was probably fun.

Smaller, lesser known "Horror fan" IPs are probably a blast to create.

 

[queenmetroid]

Yeah, I can imagine designing for The Walking Dead as an IP absolutely sucks. The Walking Dead falls flat for me personally because I don't care for the property and zombies are not a fresh, interesting concept. I can imagine that if you have to design a maze where you don't care for the property, you're constrained by the IP design and story, and you have to tread tired zombie tropes, it must be boring and tedious.

If you compare that to something like Billie Eilish or The Weekend, where you probably have only a style guide and a more blue sky approach, it would be dramatically more fun (assuming, of course, the IP holder is easy to work with and receptive to creative input).

 

[HHN Maddux]

With the 5th soundstage house potentially going into 21, what are the chances of 25 Years being beaten out for longest house ever?

 

[uso345]

Here's my understanding. A moderator said that he wasn't sure Netflix was coming this year, and several other posters stated that they didn't think ST was coming either. Along with Netflix's current company-wide woes, the ball rolled from there. I don't know the moderator's history or if they are an "insider", but I have not yet heard an insider say anything about this. But the rumor has rolled to twitter and has now grown legs.

I don't understand how Netflix's current subscriber, and overall, company-wide issues, would cause for them to cancel a house for this fall. If anything, since Netflix is going through a rough patch at the moment, they would want to ensure that Stranger Things has a presence in this year's event, as it creates a huge amount of revenue, not just for Universal, but for themselves too. The houses aren't just because both companies mutually love the IP; they're life-sized, walkthrough advertisements for the property, and the service itself. It may be true that ST will not be at this year's event, but I sincerely doubt the reason are the numbers that were recently released that has the GP worried.

 

[DannyPowers]

I don't understand how Netflix's current subscriber, and overall, company-wide issues, would cause for them to cancel a house for this fall. If anything, since Netflix is going through a rough patch at the moment, they would want to ensure that Stranger Things has a presence in this year's event, as it creates a huge amount of revenue, not just for Universal, but for themselves too. The houses aren't just because both companies mutually love the IP; they're life-sized, walkthrough advertisements for the property, and the service itself. It may be true that ST will not be at this year's event, but I sincerely doubt the reason are the numbers that were recently released that has the GP worried.

Exactly my thought. So, Netflix took a bit of a bump last week. That's exactly why they would be reaching out to set up something like being featured at HHN.

The ONLY thing I could potentially think of is that they would be on the hook for some sort of costs associated with HHN using the property. Like, they would have to pay the Duffers, or likeness rights to the actors prior to getting the return on their investment from Universal.

I doubt it would work like that, but cleaning debits off of their balance sheets would be the only reason I could see them pulling out.

 

[lilboosupremacy]

New trailer for The Black Phone just dropped. I know I was in the minority being excited by the thought of a Freaky/Black Phone house, but I'm even more excited after this new trailer. The mask designs are so good!

 

[HHN Maddux]

New trailer for The Black Phone just dropped. I know I was in the minority being excited by the thought of a Freaky/Black Phone house, but I'm even more excited after this new trailer. The mask designs are so good!

Movie looks great, not sure how well that'll translate into a house though. Unless they go the Exorcist route, where it's different versions of the same room.

 

[Stonecoldfreak1]

Movie looks great, not sure how well that'll translate into a house though. Unless they go the Exorcist route, where it's different versions of the same room.

A lot of the movie takes place in the same room, but there are flashbacks and things that change the scenery some. Having it split with Freaky makes a lot of sense.

 

[lilboosupremacy]

Movie looks great, not sure how well that'll translate into a house though. Unless they go the Exorcist route, where it's different versions of the same room.

I think it'll also help that it won't be the entire house just for this movie. But a handful of rooms with essentially the same set but different/progressive scares could be interesting.

 

[MikePat]

With the 5th soundstage house potentially going into 21, what are the chances of 25 Years being beaten out for longest house ever?

I think at the time that house was the longest, but to my knowledge, I think American Horror Story Vol.1 and Vol.2 topped it. I could be wrong though...

I would love for another "UBER HOUSE" though.

 

[shiekra38]

While I agree IPs are critical, and have been for decades, there are definite "classes" of IP. TWD and Stranger Things were God Tier and brought in huge crowds. Something like Killer Klowns or American Werewolf were more niche, primarily a bone to fans who would likely attend anyway. I think HHN will always need the former, however it can get them. (And with the consolidation of entertainment companies, that probably means looking beyond traditional horror IPs to things like musical artists and premier horror-adjacent TV.) The latter are a nice add, but probably not critical to the event.

Sometimes squeezing out the horror elements of a particular piece of work leads to a really creative end result

Films like Jurassic Park, although not entirely horror, could work really well if they leaned into the 'escaped raptor' element

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Sometimes squeezing out the horror elements of a particular piece of work leads to a really creative end result

Films like Jurassic Park, although not entirely horror, could work really well if they leaned into the 'escaped raptor' element

I'd absolutely love to see this happen. Horror-adjacent films could lead to some really cool houses.

 

[SeventyOne]

Sometimes squeezing out the horror elements of a particular piece of work leads to a really creative end result

Films like Jurassic Park, although not entirely horror, could work really well if they leaned into the 'escaped raptor' element

Going way back, the Brendan Frasier Mummy movies were far more action/adventure than horror, but they distilled down to a a pretty fun house. I think you're right, not having to be a straight-up "book report" can give the designers a bit more creative freedom. This ties into why multiple IPs in a single Blumhouse house seems to work well, they only have to hit the highlights.

Also The Mummy Returns (or was it Mummy 3?) probably exemplifies a third IP category, foisted on the event by Corporate Overlords. Sometimes good (Dead Silence), sometimes bad (Dracula Untold).