As much as in 1999 The Blair Witch Project seemed independent: a low-budget found footage feel that was meant to explore the “true” story of its main characters mysteriously missing: the box office hit created a franchise that is still going today. That has been a point of contention for the creators of the original film, who felt Lionsgate had not compensated them fairly for their contributions to its success.
In 2024, the original cast (Heather Donohue, Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard) shared a statement on facebook asking the studio for “retroactive and future residual payments for performance services… equivalent to the amount that would have been allocated through SAG-AFTRA” and “meaningful consultation regarding any future Blair Witch reboot, sequel, prequel, toy, game, attraction, escape room, etc.
Along with this public call, the actors published a statement of support signed by Blair Witch Directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, as well as producers Gregg Hale, Robin Cowie and Michael Monello, praised “the important contributions of the original cast.”
Fast forward to now and we have more details on the latest. Blair Witch film, which was also announced in 2024 and is co-produced by Blumhouse-Atomic Monster (i.e. genre powerhouses Jason Blum and James Wan).
According to a Lionsgate press release, the “new imagination” of The Blair Witch Project now has a director (Dylan Clark, whose next portrait of godbased on his short film, is being produced by the horror dream team of Sam Raimi and Jordan Peele). Clark is also rewriting Chris Devlin’s original script.
All of that is intriguing. But of greatest interest are the newly added executive producers: Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams, along with Eduardo Sánchez, Daniel Myrick and Gregg Hale. Their participation will help bring “the entire mythology and legacy of the franchise to a new generation of storytelling,” according to the studio.
Heather Donohue’s absence is not commented on, but she has since been. changed his name and has apparently left Hollywood.
As of now there is no release date The Blair Witch Projectand much fewer plot details, but Adam Wingard’s 2016 reboot already used the title Blair Witch. Are you excited to take another trip to the haunted woods of Maryland?
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