The Blair Witch Project, an actor’s anger at the new film: “I didn’t know anything about it, a disgusting lack of respect” | Cinema

At CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Blumhouse and Lionsgate announced a new chapter in the saga saga The Blair Witch Project which began in 1999 with the film directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, which cost a few hundred thousand dollars and was capable of generating 248 million dollars at the box office.

The news was not received very well by Joshua Leonardactor of the original film who entrusted his outburst to Instagram:

This is MY face on a press release for a movie that will be made by two major studios, two studios I have worked for and respect. The BIZARRE THING is that I didn’t know anything about it until a friend texted me congratulations yesterday.

My frustration is that I’ve been trying to contact Lionsgate for over a month about a benefit screening of BWP (Blair Witch Project) for the O+ Festival to raise money for artists without healthcare, and NO ONE he answered me.

He then recounted some “facts” related to the film:

In 1999 the original distributor of BWP claimed to have distributed the most profitable independent film in history (purchased for $1 million and grossed $250+), while internally they told us they would lose money due to promotional expenses… so WE would practically have been indebted to them.

Since our names were in the film, the studio thought they had the copyright, so we had to take them to court to get OUR NAMES back.

An inside source in Hollywood told the press that we (actors) had been paid $4 million for the rights, while in reality we had received $300,000… without ever seeing another cent (after buying a car and paying off your student debt, Mike [Williams] a year after the film’s release he went back to moving, even though he continued to end up on the covers of magazines).

He concluded thus:

There were so many factors that made BWP a success: timing, promotion, etc., but also the FACT that weirdos like us got together, with no resources, and MADE A FILM THAT MADE AN IMPRESSION! Can we go on record that the film itself is a key reason why we’re still talking about it 25 years later?

I’m so proud of our little punk-rock movie and I LOVE the fans who keep its flame burning. But at this point we’re talking about 25 years of disrespect from the people who have pocketed the bulk of the profits from OUR work, which I find disgusting and classless.

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