The Blair Witch Project will return to the big screen, as Blumhouse and Lionsgate have announced plans to reimagine it. Deadline reported the news from a presentation at CinemaCon this morning. The film studios recently collaborated on Imaginary and said they plan to reimagine other classic Lionsgate horror titles.
The Blair Witch Project, directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, became a found footage phenomenon when it was released in 1999. The sequel, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, was directed by Joe Berlinger and released in 2000. In 2016, Adam Wingard directed Blair Witch, a direct sequel to the first film.
At the event, Adam Fogelson, chair of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said: “I have been incredibly fortunate to work with Jason many times over the years. We forged a strong relationship on The Purge when I was at Universal, and we launched STX with his film The Gift. There is no one better at this genre than the team at Blumhouse.”
He continued, “We are thrilled to kick this partnership off with a new vision for Blair Witch that will reintroduce this horror classic for a new generation. We couldn’t be more pleased to be working with them on this and other projects we look forward to revealing soon.”
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Jason Blum, founder and CEO of Blumhouse, added, “I’m very grateful to Adam and the team at Lionsgate for letting us play in their sandbox. I’m a huge admirer of The Blair Witch Project, which brought the idea of found footage horror to mainstream audiences and became a true cultural phenomenon. I don’t think there would have been a Paranormal Activity had there not first been a Blair Witch, so this feels like a truly special opportunity, and I’m excited to see where it leads.”
While the first film was released under conditions that cannot be reproduced in today’s digital world, it will be interesting to see what Blumhouse adds to the franchise.
