EXCLUSIVE: Producer Jason Blum Responds to Jem Trailer Backlash

Love his movies or not (and most people I know love at least one, be it Whiplash or Paranormal Activity), one of many reasons I dig producer Jason Blum is that he takes all questions head on. He didn’t have to talk about Jem when we sat down together at the Insidious Chapter 3 press day, and he could have pulled a Robert Downey Jr.-style walkout. Instead, he was totally game for the discussion.

The full interview will run here on TR closer to the release of Insidious 3, but for now, here’s what he has to say about your Jem concerns, and about one particular rumor.

LYT: You must have seen the online reactions to the Jem trailer

JB: Oh, I did, I did.

LYT: Even William Shatner reacted [on Twitter]

JB: What did William Shatner say?

I watched the Jem trailer. No star earrings? Where are the misfits?

— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) May 13, 2015

LYT: Something to the effect of he didn’t get it, no earrings, no holograms, what’s the point?

JB: Well, I think he should…I cannot wait for the movie come out and hear what everybody has to say, and I can’t wait for – a few more people are gonna see the trailer over the weekend, on Pitch Perfect 2, so I’m looking forward to a wider response. But MOST OF ALL, I’m looking forward for everyone to see the movie, and if they still have problems, I will field any complaints personally [laughs].

LYT: Can you reassure some of the fans right now who are a little upset at the way it looks and feel like it’s not true to the property from what they’ve seen?

JB: It is a hundred per cent true to the spirit of Jem, like 100%, and I think that people will be very pleasantly surprised. So in that way it’s good – maybe lowering expectations is good. But I think people will be pleasantly surprised for sure.

LYT: One theory I’ve seen put forward by fans who want to like it is that this is sort of a prequel to the animated version, and then the next film you get the Misfits and you get Synergy…

JB: That is a theory. It isn’t correct. [Laughs.]

LYT: My wife literally screamed and yelled when she saw the trailer, and threw things.

JB: She was upset about it?

LYT: She was upset. She said, “Now I know why you guys were mad at Michael Bay for Transformers.”

JB: [laughs loudly]Tell her to hang in there and have faith. A trailer’s two minutes; a movie is 90.

LYT: Will we hear a soundtrack album maybe in advance of the movie that can give us hope?

JB: Possibly. I’m not sure yet. But I would just ask people to reserve judgment until they’ve seen the movie. I don’t judge a book by reading the book cover, and I just would ask people, don’t judge the movie by seeing the trailer. But if after they see the movie, they don’t like it? They can scream from the rooftops.

On that, he and William Shatner can agree.

I think my reaction to the Jem movie trailer is being taken out of context. I am not angry nor am I condemning a movie I haven't seen.

— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) May 13, 2015