A New BLAIR WITCH PROJECT Film is Currently in Development with Lionsgate and Blumhouse

A New Blair Witch Project Film Will Team Up Lionsgate and Blumhouse

Lionsgate and Blumhouse will be bringing a new edition of the wildly popular 1990’s horror movie, The Blair Witch Project, to the screen.

About two years ago, it was announced that Lionsgate would possibly be rebooting the 1999 found footage horror film, The Blair Witch Project. It seems that this project is finally going to happen with the backing of Blumhouse. Lionsgate and Blumhouse teamed up on the recent horror success, Imaginary, and are ready to bring a new version of one of the biggest box-office horror movie hits of all-time to the screen.

The Blair Witch Project was a phenomenon in 1999. However, its success was not easy to duplicate when considering the two projects that tried to capitalize on the success of the 1999 picture. A movie called Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 was rushed into production and released in 2000, just a little over a year after the first movie. That movie landed with a resounding thud at the box-office. That’s because the first movie built a campaign around the 1999 movie that led people to believe the found footage was real when it was, indeed, part of a fictional project. It didn’t help that the 2000 movie wasn’t any good, earning a pitiful “D-” CinemaScore grade.

In 2016, another spin-off called Blair Witch came out which was truer in spirit to the 1999 movie but lacked much of a pulse in many other respects. That 2016 dud got a “D+” CinemaScore mark. But, now, with Blumhouse and Lionsgate teaming up, they may just have what it takes to turn the upcoming Blair Witch picture into another hit. Why would it be a hit if the other movies failed? Could the third time be the charm? The easy answer is that Blumhouse knows how to make scary movies and could probably rejuvenate the series by giving it a new angle or simply by sticking to the formula that made the first movie popular. That formula could involve heavy advertising and that sense of dread which marked the first film and made it such an interesting experience to watch.

Found footage movies became popular after the original The Blair Witch Project and one of the more popular sets of such films were the Paranormal Activity pictures. The first Blair Witch Project movie had a dedicated cast and a lot of emotion put into the performances that made it easy for audiences to relate to it. Who can forget the scene in the original with the lead actress, then known as Heather Donahue, in a close-up with her character asking for understanding for her involvement in the horrible situation in the woods the character found herself immersed in.

Blumhouse and Lionsgate promise a new take on the material with their upcoming film that could stick somewhat true to the nature of the 1999 film while avoiding the demeaning nature of the other two movies that were made based on this terrifying subject matter. Audiences will have to be won over again and the way for that to happen is to make them think the movie has something new that the viewers haven’t seen before. It may be a good idea that Lionsgate waited for Blumhouse to make this upcoming picture. Now, its financial prospects seem to have improved significantly because Blumhouse films are pretty much always successful in one way, shape or form.

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