The cast of The Blair Witch Project released a joint statement detailing what they would like to see from Lionsgate in light of the recently announced news of a Blair Witch reboot. Joshua Leonard, Michael C. Williams, and Rei Hance (formerly Heather Donahue), who starred in the original film back in 1999, released an open letter to the company via Instagram on April 20, 2024, just nine days after a post from Leonard went viral. MovieWeb was first to report on Leonard’s post, in which he said, “It’s 25 years of disrespect from the folks who’ve pocketed the lion’s share (pun intended) of the profits from OUR work, and that feels both icky and classless.”
As per Leonard’s Instagram post on April 20, the cast is asking for “retroactive and future residual payments” in the amount equivalent to what they “would’ve been allotted through SAG-AFTRA, had we had proper union or legal representation when the film was made.” In addition, they are also asking for “meaningful consultation” going forward on any Blair Witch project that may include their names and likeness. Their final request is “The Blair Witch Grant,” which would see a sum of $60,000 paid annually by Lionsgate “to an unknown/aspiring genre filmmaker to assist in making their first feature film,” with no stings attached, meaning Lionsgate would not “own any of the underlying rights to the project.”
The Blair Witch Project Was a Cultural Phenomenon
First released on July 14, 1999, The Blair Witch Project became a runaway smash, earning over $240 million at the box office against a reported budget of anywhere between $200,000 to $700,000. Thanks to its extravagant marketing campaign, the film blurred the lines between fact and fiction, with many believing that the incredibly naturalistic movie showed real footage of what happened to three lost filmmakers in the woods of Burkittsville, Maryland. Once deemed the scariest movie ever made, it would go on to be credited with revitalizing the found-footage subgenre of horror, spawning a slew of imitators afterward.
At the time, the young cast were not members of the SAG-AFTRA union, and earned just $1,000 per day over the course of a grueling eight-day shoot. After the film’s success, Hance conducted an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer, calling herself “the poorest new famous person in America” (as she recounted in a great essay for The Guardian). Each would go on to make $300,000 in a deal that saw their ownership points bought out, but since then, they have not seen a dime of residuals from the movie.
The Blair Witch Project: How It Changed Movie Marketing Forever
Theaters were packed in 1999 with viewers trying to see the scariest film ever made. And it was real. But how did they find out about it?
With news coming that Lionsgate (which bought out the original distributor of the film, Artisan Entertainment) is teaming up with famed production company Blumhouse to bring audiences a new chapter in the Blair Witch saga, Joshua Leonard and his fellow co-stars are taking this time to not only highlight their struggles over the years brought on by the production of the 1999 film, but to also shine a light on unfair practices in the industry against independent filmmakers.
Lionsgate has yet to respond to their open letter, but as the story continues to gain traction, it would only make sense for all parties involved to come to the table, lest it sour the production of the new film.
