EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate and Blumhouse will be launching sales at the Cannes market on their reboot of horror franchise sensation The Blair Witch Project.
We can confirm online reports from earlier this year that up-and-coming horror director Dylan Clark has been set to helm the new “imagining”.
Lionsgate has had this iteration in the works for a few years and it now has solid impetus. We understand filming is being lined up for fall and hear budget is in the $10M range. Plot details remain under wraps.
Chris Devlin wrote the original screenplay, with a current rewrite by Clark. Atomic Monster’s James Wan and Blumhouse’s Jason Blum are teaming with producer Roy Lee to produce. Adam Hendricks and Greg Gilreath are producing for Divide/Conquer. Current plan is for Lionsgate to retain domestic and UK distribution rights.
As revealed by THR just now, Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams, two of the stars of the original 1999 movie, as well as the original filmmakers—Eduardo Sánchez, Daniel Myrick, and Gregg Hale—are newly aboard the project as executive producers. This marks a change from the previous two sequels in the franchise which didn’t have much input from the original creatives.
Steven Schneider is an executive producer, as are Michael Clear and Judson Scott for Atomic Monster, with Alayna Glasthal overseeing for the company. Scott O’Brien and Pavan Kalidindi are overseeing the project for Lionsgate. Phil Strina negotiated the Lionsgate deal on behalf of the studio.
Clark is the young genre filmmaker who has gained a large following in the YouTube horror space. He recently signed on with Universal to adapt his horror short Portrait of God, with Sam Raimi and Jordan Peele producing. He is also writing to direct an adaptation of his short film Story Time, with Zak Olkewicz and LD Entertainment producing.
Released in ’99, low-budget horror The Blair Witch Project followed three film students who vanished in a forest after filming a documentary about a witch legend, leaving only their found footage behind. The movie took in $248M global and became one of the most successful and influential horror movies ever. Two sequels have been released since then, most recently in 2016. Neither took off like the original but both still took close to $50M at the box office.
Lionsgate’s Cannes slate will also include the sequel to box office hit The Housemaid. The second instalment is due to star Sydney Sweeney and Kirsten Dunst. Paul Feig is returning to direct with producer Todd Lieberman also back.
In The Housemaid’s Secret, Millie (Sweeney) returns, taking a job keeping house for a woman she’s never allowed to see — only to discover the truth behind the locked door that threatens to expose secrets far darker than her own. It’s based on McFadden’s 2023 sequel novel.
Dylan Clark is repped by 3 Arts, UTA and Ginsburg Daniels Kallis.
