Original Blair Witch Filmmakers Are Pretty Bummed To Be Left Out Of The New Movie

Joshua Leonard, who played a fictionalized version of himself in the 1999 original, evidently learned about the planned Blair Witch revival film after being sent a screenshot of a report on the Lionsgate presentation at CinemaCon. Worse still, the Variety article he was sent featured his own face as the header image, something which Leonard pointed out in an Instagram post.

In the post, the actor stated that he was “So proud of our little punk-rock movie,” but took the studios to task, writing, “At this point, it’s 25 years of disrespect from the folks who’ve pocketed the lion’s share (pun intended) of the profits from OUR work, and that feels both icky and classless.” The extensive Instagram caption paints a pretty damning picture of the issue, alluding to court cases and financial struggles in the wake of the original film’s release.

At this stage, then, it seems as if Lionsgate and Blumhouse might benefit from reaching out to some of those involved with creating the franchise. As Jason Blum himself said during the CinemaCon announcement, “I don’t think there would have been a ‘Paranormal Activity’ had there not first been a ‘Blair Witch,'” so it seems odd not to want to connect with the people responsible. The ending of “The Blair Witch Project” is as maddening and mysterious today as it was 20 years ago, and still holds up, suggesting that the filmmakers are more than capable of creating something that could work in the modern age, and could be a big asset to the film.