After two mediocre sequels, Lionsgate will try to revive the Blair Witch franchise with a new film.
In 1999, The Blair Witch Project was a real phenomenon, thanks to a brilliant promotional campaign that sowed doubts about the veracity of the images filmed. This small independent project became one of the most profitable horror films of all time, and launched the fashion of found footage. Without the influence of The Blair Witch Project, the horror films Paranormal Activity, REC, or Cloverfield might not have been made.
Since then, the film has had the right to two sequels, rather poorly received by critics and audiences: The Book of Shadows, released a year after the original, then Blair Witch, in 2016. But despite the very modest scores of these two opuses at the box office, Lionsgate is going to relaunch the franchise and again bet on the witch. And while nothing was known about this project, its director has been revealed.
Indeed, according to Production Weekly, Oliver Park has been hired to direct this fourth film. The British filmmaker, who is still fairly confidential, got noticed at the Toronto Film Festival in 2015 for his short film Vicious. Since then, his first feature film, the horrific The Offering, has been fairly well received by critics. It’s not yet known if he’ll use the found footage technique again to reboot the Blair Witch universe. However, opting for a totally different staging might be a good way to allow the franchise to renew itself.
This new project will be produced by Haxan Films, which was already behind The Blair Witch Project. Indeed, the writers-directors of the 1999 cult film, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, will be the producers here, after having been left out of the two previous sequels. It’s only a step to imagine that this new opus will be closer to the spirit of the original. We don’t know yet the release date of the film, which the shooting should start by the end of 2023.
