Movies of War

At CinemaCon 2024, Lionsgate and Blumhouse announced a planned remake of 1999's viral breakout horror movie The Blair Witch Project, the film that launched a mega-wave of found-footage horror movies and redefined viral marketing. The announcement came with few details, apart from promising a "new take" on the franchise. Two years later, the studios have announced who'll be helming that new take: first-time feature filmmaker Dylan Clark, who's earned a huge following for his short horror films on YouTube. Clark is the latest in a wave of popular YouTubers stepping up to make theatrical releases. Earlier this year, game streamer Mark Fischbach bypassed the studio system entirely with his creepy feature debut Iron Lung. A24 backed Undertone, the feature debut of VR filmmaker Ian Tuason, who's going on to reboot the Paranormal Activity franchise for Blumhouse. A24's upcoming Backrooms, based on a popular creepypasta series, was directed by 17-year-old Kane Parsons, known for his Backrooms web videos. The trend mimics what traditional book publishing houses have been doing for decades now: cherry-picking particularly popular online work like Andy Weir's The Martian and Hugh Howey's Silo series and re-releasing it in print form. A24 and Blumhouse in particular have been keeping an eye on content creators who've demonstrated their talent both by creating unique work and by building their own audiences organically. Clark was already working on another feature film for a different studio: Universal signed him to produce a full-length version of his seven-minute short horror movie Portrait of God, which has amassed more than 9 million views on YouTube. Sam Raimi and Jordan Peele are producing the project. More significantly for longtime Blair Witch Project fans, Lionsgate announced that two of the 1999 movie's original stars, Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams, and the original filmmakers, Eduardo Sánchez, Daniel Myrick, and Gregg Hale, will all be executive producers on the new Blair Witch film. That's notable because Myrick and Sánchez spoke out against the remake in 2024, expressing frustration that Lionsgate was continuing the franchise they created without consulting them, or soliciting their involvement. It's unclear what input they might have into the planned remake, but at least they aren't being shut out of it altogether. Subscribe to our newsletter for insider film trends Get deeper context — subscribe to the newsletter for clear, thoughtful coverage of how creators from YouTube are reshaping Hollywood, franchise revivals like the Blair Witch remake, and the studio strategies behind them. Get Updates By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. No timeline was announced for the new Blair Witch movie, which is still being developed. Movies News Entertainment Follow Followed Like Share Facebook X WhatsApp Threads Bluesky LinkedIn Reddit Flipboard Copy link Email Close Most Popular Jujutsu Kaisen sequel gets official MAPPA animated promo for final volume My Adventures with Superman will return to adapt a classic ‘90s comic arc Subnautica 2 dev says the delay actually had a silver lining Is this life sim about fixing up an old pub the most British game of all time? Mood Swings is an attempt to solve one of Magic’s biggest problems This Fallout 76 fan's pie vault is a shrine to one of the game's silliest rare items See More Trending Now Resident Evil and Spider-Verse 3 get the biggest reactions at Sony's CinemaCon show Jason Statham's The Beekeeper 2 is destined to be(e) the best action thriller of 2027 Seth MacFarlane is making a Dungeon Crawler Carl TV show for Peacock