Horror Production Icon Jason Blum's Shark Tank Guest Spot Was Years In The Making

"Shark Tank" is no stranger to celebrity guests. The popular business pitch show, known as "Dragon's Den" in most parts of the world, has had a steady pool of primary "Sharks" including Barbara Corcoran, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, and Daymond John. It's a roster that's stayed mostly consistent over the years, though changes do occur from time to time, such as the recent announcement that longtime Shark Mark Cuban is quitting "Shark Tank." Most of the diversity on the panel, though, comes in the form of guest judges.

In 2023, noted film producer and Blumhouse Productions founder Jason Blum joined the Sharks for a guest turn on Season 15. To hear him tell it, his cameo was years in the making. "It was so fun. I love Shark Tank too," Blum said in a 2023 interview with Pop Culture Planet. "I was really wanted to be on [sic] and I've been begging to be on the show for years. They finally said yes and it was really fun. The Sharks are really nice."

Though he's apparently been a fan for a long time, Blum said that he was still surprised to see how the show is produced. "They're working on such a compressed time," he said. "They're hearing a five-minute pitch and then they have to decide, so seeing how they make the decisions, how they look at the valuations, the questions that they asked ... I learned a lot [from] the show."

Hollywood and "Shark Tank" have overlapped a number of times in the past. Most often, it happens with a star who's become as successful in the business world as they are on the screen. In the past, performers like Kevin Hart, Jeff Foxworthy, Ashton Kutcher, and Gwyneth Paltrow have all featured as guest Sharks, the latter two being well-known for tech investments and questionable wellness brands, respectively. Blum certainly isn't as high-profile as some of those other names, but when you're a diehard fan of the program, it seems that dreams can still come true.

Of course, theatricality is also a key piece of "Shark Tank." It may have real-world business consequences, but it's still reality TV, after all. As such, it makes sense that the show keeps featuring guests from the entertainment industry. Blum certainly won't be the last film producer to appear on the hit ABC show.

Lots of folks watching "Shark Tank" Season 15 may not have had any idea who Jason Blum was when he popped up on the screen. However, the acclaimed producer has a lot of prior experience turning small investments into huge financial windfalls.

Blumhouse's official website describes its projects as "high-quality indie budget horror films, and provocative scripted and unscripted television series." That "budget" component has been a key piece of the studio's business plan from the start. Blumhouse was relatively unknown until the release of the first "Paranormal Activity" movie in 2007, which single-handedly launched the company to fame and fortune. The movie was made on a reported production budget of just $15,000, though over $200,000 extra was later spent on reshoots and post-production costs. Even with those added expenses, though, the movie was an absurd success, raking in nearly $200 million globally and kickstarting a franchise that's earned close to $900 million in total worldwide.

"Shark Tank" is a show all about turning small money into big money, and that's exactly what Blum has done time and time again with other movies like "The Purge," "Insidious," and "Get Out." The Blumhouse website claims that all of the studio's films together have grossed $5.7 billion worldwide.