The original stars of The Blair Witch Project, Joshua Leonard, Michael Williams, and Rei Hance, have written a letter to Lionsgate demanding more compensation and meaningful consultation on future projects.
The trio released a public statement outlining their requests after Lionsgate announced a partnership with Blumhouse for a new Blair Witch movie. They noted that the two previous reboots of the franchise were disappointing and were made without their significant creative input.
As the insiders who created the iconic film, they believe they are Lionsgate’s greatest underutilized secret weapon. They are requesting retroactive and future residual payments equivalent to SAG-AFTRA union rates, as well as meaningful consultation on any future Blair Witch projects.
The group also wants Lionsgate to establish a 60K grant for aspiring filmmakers, the same amount as the budget for the original film, to be awarded annually to help an unknown genre filmmaker make their first feature film.
The original filmmakers, including directors Eduardo Sanchez and Dan Myrick, and producers Gregg Hale and Robin Cowie, also released a statement supporting the actors’ demands, highlighting their significant contributions to the franchise.
The Blair Witch Project grossed $248 million at the worldwide box office, spawning two sequels: Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 in 2000 and Blair Witch in 2016. The actors previously sued Artisan Entertainment for using their names and likenesses in the first sequel.
