It seems like there’s some exciting movement happening with the future of The Blair Witch Project franchise. Back in 1999, one of the scariest movies of all-time was released. The Blair Witch Project is one of the earliest and most defining found footage horror movies out there. It was released and advertised as if it was a real documentary. This made the movie even scarier for initial audiences who believed what they were watching was the real time mental collapse of these three friends, all of whom were potentially murdered at the end of the film. Of course, not everyone was fooled, but it was a unique phenomenon that could really only exist in its era.
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Due to its massive success, a sequel was quickly churned out a year later, but it was absolutely terrible and lacked a lot of what made the first movie so good. 16 years later, Hollywood took another crack at it with a legacy sequel of sorts known as Blair Witch. The movie was made in secrecy under a false name and it wasn’t until the movie was screened for fans at San Diego Comic-Con that it was revealed to be a Blair Witch Project sequel. That film also wasn’t received super well, but it teased a big future for the series, possibly featuring aliens and other supernatural presences beyond the actual titular witch. Unfortunately, that never went anywhere.
The Blair Witch Project Actor Shares Update on Franchise’s Future
However, Lionsgate and Blumhouse have been working on reviving The Blair Witch Project. Early reports claim this is some kind of reboot/reimagining, which makes it sound like they’re starting over from scratch and disregarding everything from before, but it has been extremely unclear. There may still be some connections, though. Actor Michael C. Williams, who played Mike in The Blair Witch Project, shared an update on Twitter and Instagram.
The cast of The Blair Witch Project has been outspoken about not being fairly compensated for the film’s enormous success. The Blair Witch Project made $248 million on a budget of $35,000, meaning it’s one of the most profitable movies ever and the actors likely weren’t paid much at all upfront. While a lot of actors can make bank on a cut of the box office and royalties from re-releases, TV broadcasts, and more, this crew didn’t reap the rewards, despite also being tasked with also essentially serving as their own crew in the woods.
However, Williams took to social media to share that he now finally feels like a “valued contributor” to the franchise. He noted he wasn’t at liberty to say much but thanked Lionsgate and Jason Blum, who is producing the upcoming Blair Witch Project reboot. Blum had nothing to do with the original film, but he is likely a keeper of the series now that he’s in charge of its future. Williams went on to note that he’s excited for “what’s to come next in the Blair Witch universe” and that he “found the map” and that they’re “moving forward,” partially in reference to his character losing the map in the original film.
It’s unclear if Williams will return in the upcoming Blair Witch film or if he’s serving as some kind of consultant. The film and Blair Witch both played with time in a big way, so it’s possible that Mike is still lost in those woods, waiting for someone to come to his rescue. Or maybe there’s something more sinister. Either way, this is a promising update for the franchise as it not only smooths things over with one of the key actors, but teases that there is some forward momentum on the development of the next Blair Witch Project movie.
What do you want to see from the future of the Blair Witch series? Let me know in the comments!
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