14 DAY TRIAL // In 1999, a small production with a budget of barely $100,000 and a very small cast went on to make over $250 million at the box-office and then turn into a cult classic. Today, the men behind “Blair Witch Project,” directors Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick, are telling BBC they are thinking of returning with another sequel to the original film – and have come at a halt because they do not know how to approach the given material.
As fans of the genre – and not only – must already know, the appeal of the original 1999 film was mostly relying on the use of the camera and the fact that it looked even more genuine than the films that are branded as documentaries by their producers. What made “Blair Witch Project” so popular and appreciated, as critics also pointed out at the time, was that it did more than just immerse audiences into the story: it literally made them believe it was real by making them live it themselves.
Clearly, such a thing would no longer be possible if the directors decided to make the sequel a more expensive affair, which is where the obstacle appears. On the other hand, making the sequel just like the original would be close to meaningless because it would push the film into the other extreme, that of copycatting, and this is to be avoided as well. However, what is certain at this point is that both Sanchez and Myrick are one hundred percent dedicated to the project and set on bringing the sequel to light (on the 2000 “Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2,” the two only acted as writers).
“Ideally, each Blair Witch film would be a completely different kind of movie. We’ve thought about doing a film that takes place in the late 1700s and looks like a [Stanley] Kubrick movie with gritty looking people and lighting. Looks and sounds like the amateur movie it’s meant to be, yet somehow, with its horrors never quite seen, scared audiences the world over, so well-faked was its feeling of reality. But now, we’re thinking about going back and seeing what happened directly after the first film finished. I think it will have some kind of video element in it, but it won’t be a first person hand-held movie.” Sanchez tells BBC about the sequel.
Another good thing might also be that the two are thinking of bringing the old cast back as well. “I talk to Josh [Leonard] quite regularly and Mike Williams as well. Actually, he had a role in my last movie. Heather [Donahue], I haven’t seen in years. The last I heard, she had got out of the business and gone up north and is living on a ranch somewhere. Maybe she’s still traumatized.” Myrick states for the same media outlet.
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