Lionsgate and horror specialists Blumhouse are collaborating to revive the “Blair Witch Project” franchise, marking the first project in a multi-year deal between Blumhouse and the studio behind hit films like “The Purge” and “M3GAN.”
The first “Blair Witch” movie was primarily filmed in Montgomery County and co-written, directed, and edited by Heather Donahue, Daniel Myrick, and Eduardo Sánchez, a Wheaton High School and Montgomery College graduate (video below). Released in 1999, “Blair Witch” became a massive box office hit, earning $248 million and inspiring two sequels.
The film’s found footage style also revolutionized the horror genre.
“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,” Blumhouse’s Jason Blum said in a statement. “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.”
According to The MoCo Show, the original “Blair Witch” followed three film students who ventured into the fictional Black Hills Forest of Burkittsville, Maryland, in October 1994 to document the local Blair Witch legend. Mysteriously, the trio disappeared, leaving behind hours of footage discovered a year later by University of Maryland anthropology students, presenting the purportedly actual home video footage to the viewer.
The movie was filmed on location in just eight days and concluded on Halloween 1997. While the story is set in Burkittsville in Frederick County, most of the filming took place in the woods of Seneca Creek State Park in Gaithersburg, with some scenes shot in Wheaton.
“Blair Witch” is considered one of the most successful independent movies ever. It earned over $250 million globally and sparked a popular franchise of films, television specials, books, and video games. The movie is widely credited with reviving the found-footage style, later used in horror films like “Paranormal Activity.”
A local tradition for Gaithersburg residents, “Blair Witch Heritage Hikes” have been held in Seneca Creek State Park to celebrate the film’s history.
Photo: © Jakob – stock.adobe.com / “Blair Witch Project Logo” by Schreibwerkzeug is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.