Lionsgate and Blumhouse announced a new Blair Witch movie is in development during CinemaCon

Lionsgate revealed their highly anticipated slate of star-studded projects at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas during this year’s CinemaCon. Halle Berry (star and executive producer of “Never Let Go”) and Henry Cavill (starring in “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare”, “In the Grey” and “Highlander”), Aziz Ansari (writer, director, and actor, “Good Fortune”), Ariana Greenblatt (starring in “Borderlands”), Eli Roth (writer-director of “Borderlands”) and award-winning producer Graham King (producer of “Michael”) took the stage during Motion Picture Group Chairman Adam Fogelson’s presentation.

Lionsgate announced new projects including a remake of The Blair Witch Project, produced by Jason Blum and Blumhouse, and a live-action Monopoly movie produced by Margot Robbie and LuckyChap Production Company.

Lionsgate film chair Adam Fogelson and Jason Blum announced the news.

“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.” 

The 1999 original Blair Witch is one of the most profitable films of all time. It was shot for $35,000, with postproduction costs putting the budget up to between $200,00 to $500,000, but it then went on to gross $249 million globally.

There was a 2001 sequel and a 2016 follow-up. Roy Lee, who produced the 2016 film, is back for the new film.

I do feel the original Blair Witch was like catching lightning in a bottle. There were found footage films before it, but it opened the door for so many others. They of course, never quite reached the heights of the format. I am not sure whether a remake will be able to catch that magic again. The low budget really added to the realness of the original and in today’s TikTok world is it all just too diluted?

What are your thoughts on the remake news? How could they make it work again?