The Purge was one of 2013's sleepers, and Blumhouse Productions doesn't wait to jump on sequel opportunities.  Their surprise hits—Paranormal Activity and Insidious—both got sequels, Sinister 2 is in development, and The Purge: Anarchy is due out on July 18th.

We recently spoke to Blumhouse Productions head Jason Blum for his latest film Oculus.  During the interview, Blum also talked about The Purge franchise, how they wanted to expand on the original Purge, how he can see a new Purge movie coming out every year like they do with the Paranormal Activity franchise, and more.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

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Collider:  The Purge was a really interesting idea, but the complaint that I had with it was that I wanted to see what was going on in the world outside of just that one family’s house in that one neighborhood.  Since it clearly addresses that, did you specifically take that into account when you were developing The Purge: Anarchy?

BLUM:  Yeah, we took care of that.  A lot of people had that reaction.  A lot of people were like, “I liked the idea, but it’s too much in the house.”  They didn’t want to see it from one family’s point of view inside the house.  They wanted to go outside the house and see what’s going on.  So, the entire second movie happens outside the house.  The entire second movie is on the streets during The Purge. 

The sequel looks a lot bigger than the first film.

BLUM:  It is a lot bigger.

Did you have a bigger budget?

BLUM:  Yeah.  It’s still very low-budget by Hollywood standards, but by our standards, it’s a much bigger budget. 

Could you envision a Purge movie every year, like with Paranormal Activity?

BLUM:  I hope so.  I would love that.  There are so many stories you could tell with it.

Are there threads for a third film in the sequel?

BLUM:  Yeah.  The first movie, we never make thinking about sequels.  The second movie, we always think about sequels.  With Insidious 2, Sinister 2, The Purge: Anarchy and even the second Paranormal Activity, we’re establishing a franchise, so we always think about what the third movie will be.  I just never think, on the first movie, about what the second movie will be. 

When you started making these quick low-budget movies, did you ever think about franchises, or were you totally surprised by the demand for it?

BLUM:  The first time it happened was with Paranormal Activity, and we were shocked.  But then, we were less surprised after that. I was less surprised that we were going to make the sequel to Insidious, or the sequel to Sinister, or even the sequel to The Purge.  But the first time, we were shocked. 

For what Blum told us about Stretch and when we're finally going to see it, click here.   Here’s Chris Pine telling us the opening scene of Stretch might end his career.  Finally, here’s what Blum told us about the Jem and the Holograms movie, which starts shooting in three weeks.  Look for more with Blum soon.

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Image via Universal Pictures