Twenty five years after the release of the original genre-changing classic, Lionsgate and Blumhouse announced out of CinemaCon today that they will partner on the development and production of a new The Blair Witch Project movie as the first film in a multi-picture pact with Blumhouse reimagining horror classics from the Lionsgate library.
The announcement was made today by Adam Fogelson, chair, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, and Jason Blum, founder and CEO of Blumhouse.
Based at Universal Pictures, where it has a first look deal, Blumhouse is the gold standard in the horror space, generating blockbuster results from a string of modestly-budgeted films including the Paranormal Activity franchise, Insidious, The Purge, Sinister, Halloween, Five Nights at Freddy’s and M3GAN along with award winners Get Out and BlacKkKlansman. Blumhouse films have grossed nearly $6 billion at the worldwide box office.
Blum will team with producer Roy Lee on the new Blair Witch Project movie; Lee previously produced the 2016 film Blair Witch, the most recent installment in the franchise.
“I have been incredibly fortunate to work with Jason many times over the years. We forged a strong relationship on The Purge when I was at Universal, and we launched STX with his film The Gift. There is no one better at this genre than the team at Blumhouse,” said Fogelson. “We are thrilled to kick this partnership off with a new vision for Blair Witch that will reintroduce this horror classic for a new generation. We couldn’t be more pleased to be working with them on this and other projects we look forward to revealing soon.”
“I’m very grateful to Adam and the team at Lionsgate for letting us play in their sandbox. I’m a huge admirer of The Blair Witch Project, which brought the idea of found footage horror to mainstream audiences and became a true cultural phenomenon,” said Blum. “I don’t think there would have been a Paranormal Activity had there not first been a Blair Witch, so this feels like a truly special opportunity and I’m excited to see where it leads.”
Found footage masterpiece The Blair Witch Project changed the game back in 1999, subsequently spawning its own sprawling universe of media, including official follow-up films in 2000 and 2016 as well as multiple books and video games that have deepened the lore.
The Blair Witch Project was created by filmmakers Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez.
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