A sequel to the "Blair Witch" series could be currently in production.
Premium subscription data service Production Weekly recently revealed that a sequel to the Blair Witch Project is in the works, though it didn't reveal any more.
"The Blair Witch Project" already has a sequel in the form of the 2016 film entitled "Blair Witch," though it is unclear if the allegedly upcoming movie will follow the latter or the former.
Blair Witch Project Sequel
Production Weekly mentioned in its post that an "untitled Blair Witch Sequel" is allegedly happening and that cameras are already rolling to produce the movie.
There's little to no information about the movie so far; it could be another found footage horror film that stays true to the Blair Witch formula or if it uses conventional filming techniques. What is certain, however, is that horror filmmaker Oliver Park, best known for his viral horror shorts "Viscious," "Still," and 2021's "The Offering," will direct the movie for Lionsgate, per Games Radar.
Interestingly, the production team behind the first "Blair Witch" movie, Haxan Films, will also be involved, along with Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, the writer-directors that worked on the original movie, per Bloody Disgusting.
Despite the accolades the production team and director have, it is still uncertain if the upcoming movie will be a hit to audiences or not - the latest entry in the series,2016's "Blair Witch," directed by Adam Wingard, didn't catch on at the box office. Rotten Tomatoes said that the sequel offers a "belated rehash of the original - and far more memorable - first film" while giving it a 37% Tomatometer score based on 225 critic reviews.
Audiences didn't like the movie either, with them giving "Blair Witch" a 31% audience score based on more than 10,000 audience-generated reviews.
Variety's review of the film isn't much better, with the publication saying that while it inspires scares, it can't conjure up the same shock the original has. Last, but not least, The Guardian said it couldn't compare to the original since "there are a few surprises left down in the woods today."
The Legacy Of The Blair Witch Project
If "Cannibal Holocaust" introduced the found footage genre, then "The Blair Witch Project" brought it to the modern world and popularized it.
The indie film, released in 1999, features the "found footage" of a group of three cinematography students who set out to Burkittsville, Maryland to produce a documentary on the legend of the Blair Witch, per IMDb.
However, things for the group slowly but surely turned out for the worse.
The movie started a craze for found footage films across Hollywood, with movies like "Rec," "Paranormal Activity," and "The Taking of Deborah Logan" following in the movie's footsteps.
It also helped Hollywood to create good digital and tricky marketing, per Entertainment Weekly. You may remember that the film earned $248.6 million at the global box office largely in part due to the online campaign that preceded it, making viewers believe that the movie may have actually happened, per the New York Times.
