‘The Blair Witch Project’ cast pen letter to Lionsgate asking for residuals
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(Credit: Press / (Credit: Haxan Films)
The cast of ‘The Blair Witch Project’ have penned a letter to Lionsgate with a series of requests, including retroactive residuals and a grant for budding filmmakers.
Almost 25 years ago, directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez caused a cultural stir with the horror film. The Blair Witch Project followed three students as they ventured into the woods to capture the Blair Witch on film. A bold marketing campaign and unique found footage style shooting led the film to become a staple in the genre.
Since the original film was released in 1999, there have been two additions to the franchise. In 2000, just a year on, Joe Berlinger directed Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, a follow-up to the film. 16 years later, Adam Wingard directed his own sequel, simply titled Blair Witch.
A number of television shows, comics and video games have also followed from the original film, spawning a whole Blair Witch franchise.
Lionsgate and Blumhouse recently announced their plans to reboot the franchise once more for a new generation of horror fans. Roy Lee and Jason Blum are both set to produce. Now, the original cast of the film have penned a letter to the entertainment company to make a number of requests.
Joshua Leonard, one of the stars of the original film, took to Facebook to share a proposal penned by himself and his co-stars, Heather Donahue and Michael C. Williams. The trio asked Lionsgate for retroactive and future residuals for the film, as well as “meaningful conversation” about future additions to the franchise, from reboots to escape rooms.
“As the insiders who created the Blair Witch and have been listening to what fans love and want for 25 years,” they stated, “we’re your single greatest, yet thus-far unutilized secret-weapon!”
The cast also asked Lionsgate to create ‘The Blair Witch Grant’, which would afford one budding filmmaker each year a $60,000 grant to support the making of their first feature. The amount matches the original budget of The Blair Witch Project.
The post was accompanied by a letter from the original film’s directors and producers, who added, “We celebrate our film’s legacy, and equally, we believe the actors deserve to be celebrated for their enduring association with the franchise.”
Revisit the trailer for the original The Blair Witch Project film from 1999 below.
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