The Return of Blair Witch: New Film in Development
It’s been 25 years since The Blair Witch Project first terrified unsuspecting moviegoers, and now the franchise is set to return. On Wednesday, Lionsgate film chair Adam Fogelson and Blumhouse Jason Blum announced the news, revealing that a new Blair Witch film is in development, according to a report by THR.
The Legacy of The Blair Witch Project
The Blair Witch Project premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 1999 and then debuted in theaters seven months later, in July. The film positioned itself as an actual found-footage documentary about three young filmmakers who went missing while searching for the mythical Blair Witch in the woods of Burkittsville, Maryland.
Behind the Scenes of The Blair Witch Project
The three students were actors Heather Donahue, Michael Williams, and Joshua Leonard, who were simply playing fictional versions of themselves in the film, which was written, directed, and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. To this day, the film has one of the most impressive box office hauls ever, earning $248.6 million on a budget of between $200,000-750,000.
The Impact and Success of The Blair Witch Project
By now, everyone knows that The Blair Witch Project was all staged but, initially, many moviegoers believed the “found footage” horror film to be 100 percent real. One way the filmmakers made it seem more real was to deprive and terrorize their actors. According to reports, the directors sent the actors off into the woods to just get lost and then would sneak into the campsite and take their food, as well as shake their tents while they tried to sleep and make mysterious noises.
The Franchise and Beyond
Following the massive success of The Blair Witch Project, a sequel was quickly fast-tracked — Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 — which opened in theaters in 2000, just a year after the first film. The franchise spawned a number of other media tie-ins over the years, such as comic books and video games, before a third film, Blair Witch, was released in 2016.
Looking Ahead
At this time, there is no word on when the new Blair Witch movies will begin production. The return of this iconic horror classic is highly anticipated, as fans eagerly await to see where the new vision for Blair Witch will lead.