The Blair Witch Project creators have not been consulted about the Blumhouse reimagining

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the release of the 1999 hit The Blair Witch Project (watch it HERE) and to mark the occasion, Lionsgate announced that they’re developing a reimagining of the film with Blumhouse Productions. Lionsgate and Blumhouse have made a multi-picture pact that will see Blumhouse producing new takes on horror classics from the Lionsgate library, and The Blair Witch Project is the first project on that slate. That announcement was made several months ago, and now, during a conversation with Film Stories, Blair Witch creators Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick let it be known that no one at Lionsgate or Blumhouse has consulted them about the reimagining.

Sanchez and Myrick had their own ideas for how to expand the world of The Blair Witch Project, but Joe Berlinger’s Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 was made without their participation. They later spent years trying to develop a third film in the franchise, but their script was set aside and the 2016 Blair Witch was based on a concept Lionsgate had in place before director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett got involved.

Myrick told Film Stories that seeing the franchise go on without them is “always a little bittersweet. I mean, Ed and I have always had subsequent ideas that expand on the universe and the world that was created for Blair. We’ve always thought that there’s a lot to mine in that whole universe.“

Sanchez added, “Like Dan said, it is bittersweet. We still love the IP and we’ve been thinking about it for more than 25 years now. And again, we don’t expect to write and direct these movies. We understand how Hollywood works and they’re always looking for the shiny new object, the new filmmaker. And there’s a lot of super talented people out there that can make a great Blair Witch movie. To be included again would be nice. Even if they don’t listen to us. Just to pick our brains – and again, like Dan was saying, we have a little bit of a fan base that’s dedicated to the original movie and it would be good press for them to bring us back in. But, we’ll see what happens.“

Blumhouse founder Jason Blum will be producing the new Blair Witch with Roy Lee, who previously produced the 2016 Blair Witch. The idea is that this reimagining could kick off a series of Blair Witch movies, taking the franchise into a new era.

Do you think Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick should be consulted about the new The Blair Witch Project? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.