Eduardo Sanchez and Dan Myrick, the directors of 1999's found-footage horror flick The Blair Witch Project, say that Blumhouse has not contacted them about the upcoming reboot-sequel.
"Studios are not your friends," Myrick told Film Stories. "They’re a business, and so we learned a trial by fire in that regard. After that, it’s just the way the business operates. I mean, Lionsgate picked up the rights. They’ve made a couple of attempts at follow-up films that have been moderately successful, but we still hold on to the naive notion that there’s other Blair movies to explore that we feel would be valuable. Certainly to the audience, to the fans. Unfortunately, Lionsgate just hasn’t embraced that approach."
The first Blair Witch movie hit theaters in 1999 and was a massive success, grossing nearly $250 million against its modest, independent budget (which was under $500,000). The found footage horror saw a group of film students set out to produce a documentary about a fictional urban legend known as the Blair Witch set in the very real town of Burkettsville, Maryland.
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, this time helmed by Joe Berlinger, hit theaters in 2000. Adam Wingard, helmer of Godzilla x Kong, released a direct sequel to the first film in 2016, which sees a new documentary film crew set out for those same woods.
Blumhouse and Lionsgate announced the new Blair Witch pic earlier this year, adding that they have a "new vision" for the film. A director has not yet been announced.
Added Sanchez: "Like Dan said, it is bittersweet. To be included again would be nice. Even if they don’t listen to us. Just to pick our brains – and again, like Dan was saying, we have a little bit of a fan base that’s dedicated to the original movie and it would be good press for them to bring us back in. But, we’ll see what happens."
The Blair Witch Project is streaming now on Prime Video, as well as 2016's Blair Witch and Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2024 and beyond.
