The Blair Witch franchise appears to be at a standstill, regardless of co-creators Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez desirous to make prequels
Again in 1999, administrators Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez introduced the world The Blair Witch Challenge (watch it HERE), a low price range movie that was an enormous field workplace hit, resulting in a poorly acquired sequel that was launched the next yr and a sequel that almost all movie-goers ignored when it was launched in 2016. Sánchez is at present doing the press rounds for the horror anthology Satanic Hispanics, which he contributed to and is about to succeed in theatres on September 14th. Whereas doing his half to construct the hype for that film, Sánchez sat down for an interview with the Cult FM podcast, and through that dialog he not solely talked in regards to the unmade Blair Witch prequels that he and Myrick had in thoughts, but in addition mentioned that – so far as he is aware of – there are not any new Blair Witch tasks within the works at Lionsgate.
Talking in regards to the franchise’s untapped potential, Sánchez mentioned, “This energy has no morals, you’ll be able to’t cause with it. It’s simply this factor the place typically it helps folks depart the woods and there’s all the time a cause, typically it kills folks, typically it takes them over, typically it disembowels them, typically it kills youngsters. It’s simply this factor that creates turmoil and likes to mess with issues. In our mythology, so far as the Blair Witch is anxious, this factor existed lengthy earlier than it was referred to as the Blair Witch. The Native People have been dwelling with this factor for means earlier than Europeans bought right here. (Myrick and I) wrote a (prequel) to our film in all probability greater than ten years in the past now. Lionsgate paid us and it was a legit, ‘We’re gonna allow you to guys write a script.’ We had been actually pleased with the script and Lionsgate actually did love the script, they only didn’t wish to spend – it was just a little bit too costly for them to drag the set off on it. I perceive why they hesitated. However we wrote this script and it had a whole lot of Native American type of affect, such as you would see this man on horseback and there was even a scene that gave the origins of the stick figures, why the stick figures had been there. … That was the unique concept for the Blair Witch motion pictures, we wished to bounce round in time. If we had been in a position to do it, we might have gone again and achieved the Elly Kedward story, which was the unique Blair Witch, which might have had a whole lot of Native affect, at the least a number of Native American characters. Then we wished to go and do a Rustin Parr story. We wished to do these interval piece horror motion pictures, then finally go right into a sequel, six years down the street or ten years down the street. However sadly, it simply didn’t work out for us to do it.“
We’ve been listening to rumblings over the past yr or in order that Lionsgate is thinking about returning to the world of the Blair Witch. In reality, there was a Manufacturing Weekly itemizing earlier this yr that indicated a brand new Blair Witch film was going to be directed by Oliver Park, who beforehand directed the 2022 horror movie The Providing, contributed to the anthology A Night time of Horror: Nightmare Radio, and directed an episode of the present Unusual Occasions. However Sánchez advised Cult FM that – whereas he did acknowledge that there’s an opportunity he can be the final particular person to seek out out – he doesn’t suppose there are any new Blair Witch tasks within the works. There have been conferences with filmmakers and a whole lot of pitches for motion pictures or TV reveals, however none have gotten the greenlight.
If a brand new Blair Witch film or a TV present was to occur, it’s unlikely it could be made by Myrick and Sánchez. Sánchez doesn’t suppose Lionsgate is thinking about “the unique previous dudes” coming again, they’re searching for new filmmakers who’re drawing consideration or any person who’s contemporary off successful. So don’t anticipate Myrick and Sánchez to ever get an opportunity to make their Elly Kedward or Rustin Parr motion pictures.
Are you a fan of The Blair Witch Challenge, and would you wish to see an additional exploration of the mythology in additional motion pictures or a TV present? Share your ideas on this one by leaving a remark beneath.