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October 12, 1999 |
| Blair Witch Project News The latest news!
Blair Witch Project Screenings Where and when to see it. Blair Witch Project Media Coverage and Buzz Magazine articles, online stories, interviews, TV coverage, and more. Blair Witch Project Reviews Reviews from magazines, newspapers, TV, and online. Blair Witch Project Merchandise Information and links to the Blair Witch CD, comic book, and book. Cast and Crew News Updates on the Haxan filmmakers and "The Blair Witch Project" cast. A&e. and Fanatic's Guide News Our TV and media appearances, our adventures with Haxan, and news about the site. |
Blair Witch Project NewsFinal Domestic Total: $144.2 Million
With very few TV ads and no "name" stars, most of the film's success
is due to its Internet fan base and online buzz - it's been called "the
first Internet-driven theatrical release" - so thanks to all of you for
helping to make Hollywood history!
Heather Donahue Signs On For 'Boys and Girls'A college drama co-starring Freddie Prinze Jr., this marks Heather's first signing since the TBWP Juggernaut.Pre-Order 'Blair Witch' on VHS/DVD from Amazon!You can head on over to www.amazon.com and pre-order your copy of the video or the DVD! See below for details about the release.Video/DVD Release Scheduled for October 22, 1999!The info we have as of now is that Artisan will release both the standard DVD (with a Special Edition to follow early next year), and the VHS version of TBWP on October 22. The DVD (which will also contain the Sci-Fi Channel special, "Curse of the Blair Witch", and will contain commentary by the Haxan 5 on a separate audio track) will be priced at $29.95, while the video WILL be priced for sell-through at $22.95.Also expected is a bundled (!) pack that will include both the film and special in VHS format. Mark your calendars, my friends! TBWP's Heather, Mike and Josh Presenters at MTV VMA's!Along with Buddy Hackett (!), Heather Donahue, Mike Williams, and Josh Leonard presented an award at last Thursday's MTV Video Music Awards.Sequel or Prequel?Also in the news this week is renewed talks between Artisan and the Haxan boys regarding plans for the (inevitable) sequel to TBWP, which may possibly be a prequel dealing with either the story of Rustin Parr, or with the original tale of Elly Kedward herself. All is unconfirmed, but I can pretty much guarantee there will be SOMETHING in the works. We'll have to see, but remember one thing- Haxan Films won't necessarily be involved with the sequel, due to their deal with Artisan which allows both sides to bring an idea which can be rejected by the other side. I'll keep on top of this.....More on the box-office success"The Blair Witch Project" made $1.5 million its opening weekend, on only 27 screens - a truly mind-blowing $57,700 per-screen average. Read a full story at Yahoo Entertainment News.It made $2.0 its second weekend ($63,812 per-screen average) and $5.0 in the first two weeks. Entertainment Weekly's "Box Office" column for 8/6/99 reports: "...horror indie The Blair Witch Project continued to pack its handful of houses, improving on its opening-weekend gross by 31 percent while adding just four theaters. Now, that's scary." |
Blair Witch Project ScreeningsNOW PLAYING EVERYWHEREThe Blair Witch Project is now playing in 2,042 theaters theaters! It's GOT to be playing in your backyard, so go! Now!To find a theater near you, check Yahoo Movie Showtimes or Moviefone. Sci Fi Channel's "Curse of the Blair Witch"Check your local listings.Check out both the Sci-Fi site (below) and www.blairwitchdirect.com for info about purchasing the video! Sci Fi website for "Curse of the Blair Witch" - very spooky, if you've got the right plug-ins. Read a review at the Sci Fi Channel website. Read a review at Ain't It Cool News. |
Blair Witch Project Media Coverage and BuzzHeather Donahue in People MagazineThere's a two-page article on Heather in People, with two pictures - one nearly full-page pic of Heather, and another of her and her boyfriend Gregor. It's a very nice piece, and I'll get the link up as soon as I get on a more cooperative browser!Newsweek Cover Story (8/16/99)Oh, my! Heather, Mike and Josh (STILL not dead!) grace the cover of NEWSWEEK Magazine! Pretty in-depth, plus the website has an audio-only interview with Sneaky Ed Sanchez! Groovy!Time Magazine Cover Story (8/16/99)Ed and Dan were on the cover of the magazine, and Time Online has a good piece on the movie, with some links. Check it our at Time Magazine Online.Entertainment Weekly, 7/30/99, cover storyEntertainment Weekly has a three-page story on TBWP's record-breaking box office, and how the Internet buzz and Artisan's marketing have paid off. (We like anything that mentions "Internet buzz"...)TBWP is also mentioned in the same issue in Jim Mullen's Hot Sheet: "4. The Blair Witch Project The low-budget, high-profit movie is the scariest thing some people have seen. And most of those people are studio heads." And the same issue's review of "The Haunting" compares it unfavorably to TBWP for most of the first paragraph. In fact, "The Haunting" review has better pull-quotes for TBWP than the original TBWP review....e.g. "leads fright lovers to a novel experience of terror and suggests an inventive new direction for the genre." Salon, 7/23/99, letters to the editor on "fake buzz" articleSalon ran three of the many letters with which they were deluged after that article...all of the ones they printed say, essentially, "Are you nuts?" Since I don't think we'll be getting a retraction, I guess this'll have to do...(By the way, thanks, Dad! - A.) New York Times, 7/18/99, article on TBWP premiereThe New York Times ran a short piece in the City section on the TBWP premiere at the Angelika. The City section is only included in the paper in, well, the city, but New York fans Edie and Peter sent us scans of the piece, which we've transcribed.Rolling Stone, article on making TBWPRolling Stone article about how the film was made, from getting the first investors to shooting the film, with quotes from the filmmakers and the cast.CNN, 7/15/99, story on TBWP's "happy ending"CNN story on the "happy ending" - not for the characters in the movie, but the filmmakers and cast (at least if they can convince people they're not dead).Wired Online, 7/15/99, story/reviewWired Online has either a story on the movie with a review mixed in, or a review with a story on the movie mixed in - in any event, it talks about the making of the movie, and also gives it a mixed-positive review.TV Guide, 7/15/99, "Daily Dish" on Heather DonahueTV Guide Online talks to Heather on being stuck in the woods for a week with two guys.Infobeat, 7/15/99, story on the real BurkittsvilleInfobeat story on the real Burkittsville, MD, a small town that doesn't know what hit it.Village Voice, 7/14/99, cover storyThe Village Voice has a great picture of Dan Myrick and Ed Sanchez on the cover, and pics inside of Heather, Mike, and Josh - including a full-page close-up of Josh that'll have him beating off the fans with a stick.Read the cover story on Dan, Ed and the making of the movie, as well as an interview with Heather. indieWIRE, 7/14/99, New York premiere coverageindieWIRE covers the premiere, the party, and the Blair Witch Countdown on opening day at the Angelika.Salon, 7/13/99, interview with Joshua LeonardSalon.com has a very informative interview with Josh about the actors' experience in the auditions and shooting of the movie.Entertainment Weekly, 7/12/99, storyEW Online answers the question "Is the scare of the summer real?" (Answer: No!)Time Magazine, 7/12/99, story on summer horror moviesThe story on summer horror movies includes TBWP; there's also a sidebar on Heather Donahue, with a very nice picture.Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/11/99, story on TBWP and doc/mockumentariesThe Philadelphia Inquirer has a great article on TBWP and the tradition of mockumentaries and reconstructed documentaries, with quotes from Errol Morris, director of The Thin Blue Line, and Lance Weiler, co-director of The Last Broadcast. It also touches on people's willingness to believe whatever the media presents to them, and the blurring line between fact and fiction on reality TV shows and talk shows. There's also a quote from my favorite professor at Temple, Warren Bass, who sums it up quite nicely: "People ought to distrust the media."New York Daily News, 7/11/99, storyThe New York Daily News has interview with Dan Myrick and Ed Sanchez and comments on the movie.New Times LA Online, 7/8/99, storyThe New Times LA Online has the hands-down best article we've seen so far on TBWP - it talks about its position in the horror genre, the casting and filming, and the Haxan boys - and there's some great quotes from Dan, Ed, and Gregg Hale.Interview, July 1999, story on Heather DonahueCheck out the short article and two pictures of Heather in Interview - looking lovely in DKNY and a black leather top.Fangoria, July 1999, #185, interview with castHeather Donahue, Michael Williams, and Joshua Leonard are interviewed in Fangoria #185 - our Fango source calls it "a very informative interview." (Especially for everyone who still thinks it's a true story and that Heather, Mike and Josh are still in the woods somewhere!)Fangoria, July 1999, #184, interview with directorsA big interview with directors Ed Sanchez and Dan Myrick about the genesis and methods of shooting the film. And TBWP is also mentioned in the "greatest horror moments of the past 20 years" timeline!TBWP and Heather Donahue in E! Online - Heatwave '99E! Online's list of "breakout" movies and performances includes The Blair Witch Project and actress Heather Donahue.Creative Screenwriting, 6/27/99, interview with directorsCreative Screenwriting has an in-depth interview with Ed Sanchez and Dan Myrick - very informative, but full of spoilers!Orlando Sentinal, 6/6/99, Florida Film FestivalOrlando Sentinal story on TBWP and the Haxan Five. |
Blair Witch Project ReviewsMovie reviews - newspapersLandover Baptist Church - The inimitable Landover Baptist Church throws their review into the ring (and please remember that Landover Baptist is a parody site, and not an actual church!).Orlando Weekly - More of a discussion about the film itself than a review, this is a *great* article about TBWP, and springs from Orlando, home of Haxan Films! Baltimore Sun - 4 of 4 stars. "With this exhilarating return to the roots of cinematic horror, Sanchez and Myrick prove to be two of the most promising harbingers of its future." Roger Ebert/Chicago Sun-Times - 4 of 4 stars. "At a time when digital techniques can show us almost anything, "The Blair Witch Project" is a reminder that what really scares us is the stuff we can't see." Los Angeles Times - mixed positive. "...the film is a clever, entertaining stunt, no more, no less, and a terrific calling card for its fledgling filmmakers." New York Post - positive. "There isn't a single moment when the footage, dialogue and group dynamics don't ring true. The actors look and act just like real people, and the tension builds up slowly - just like it does in real life." New York Daily News - positive. "The movie is not without the kind of flaws that come with a lack of polish....But the inexplicably terrifying ending is good for a month's worth of nightmares." New York Times - positive. "'The Blair Witch Project,' a most inventive departure from standard horror fare, is frightening only insofar as its characters' panic seems real. Everything else is left to the imagination. And the imagination works overtime watching the acuity of these talented filmmakers, and wondering what bright idea they'll have next." Village Voice - positive. "Paranoid, hysterical, and programmatically subjective, the movie is in every sense a psychological thriller. Although the payoff is ambiguous, the experience remains in the mind." New Jersey Online - positive. "Like "Psycho" and "Night of the Living Dead," "The Blair Witch Project" isn't just a good horror movie, it's a good movie, period." Philadelphia City Paper - positive. "...as terror sets in and the filmmakers slowly begin to lose control, Blair Witch touches on sentiments and fears as raw and as real as anything ever put on the screen." San Francisco Weekly - positive. "The surprise is that, within its narrow presentational conceit, the film manages some real emotional depth and subtlety and some pretty trenchant observations on the humbling power of nature and, maybe, of supernature. Movie reviews - magazinesThe New Yorker - positive. "As much as the pathetic film crew, the audience is invaded by terror of the unknown, and the lunging technique only increases our dread of what lies just beyond the camera's ability to record." (The New Yorker is of course too cool to be online, but we transcribed the review, along with the "Eyes Wide Shut" review that ran in the same issue.)Entertainment Weekly - B. "...we watch with pleasurable, mounting anxiety as camaraderie crumbles into paranoia, panic overtakes camera technique, and fear explodes into the kind of hysteria the girls of Salem must have known back the 17th century." Wired - mixed positive. "Blair Witch is more concept than content, less bloodcurdling than an extended psych-out like Orson Welles' 1938 Mercury Theatre radio play, The War of The Worlds." Movie reviews - TVSiskel and Ebert (guest host Norman Mark) - two thumbs up. (Follow the link to the Siskel and Ebert website, and you'll find the Blair Witch review under 7/10/99 - you need Shockwave to hear the review.)Movie reviews - onlineStarSeeker Online- Positive/Informative. "Highly acclaimed as a genre-defining piece, this brilliant horror movie features three college students who disappear in the Black Hills of Maryland while making a documentary film about an infamous 18th century witch, leaving behind only some film footage which captures the terror of their final days."CNN.com - mixed positive. "It takes a long time getting there, but the film's pay-off is all the more powerful for being a lonely, dull thud. It's just you and your worst fears, battling to the death." Film.com - positive. "The great power of the film lies in its simplicity, in the slow-building tension and psychological melt-downs that are the result of stark, bare-bones film-making." Hollywood.com - positive. "In many ways, the film is a sort of "Real World" goes to hell. Over the course of its 86 minutes, we get to know the cast and more importantly, care about them. As their circumstances blow way beyond their control, it as if we are watching family members slowly die." Salon.com - positive. "...the fact that a shoestring-budget mockumentary with no name stars, no special effects, no rivers of bloody gore and not even a musical score can be this spooky is a testament to the storytelling ability of the filmmakers, and to their trust in the audience's imagination. It's been a long time since a movie did so much by showing so little." Sci Fi Channel's "Curse of the Blair Witch" reviewsSci Fi Channel website - positive. |
Blair Witch Project MerchandiseBlairWitchDirect.com - official merchandise siteBlairWitchDirect.com is your one-stop source for TBWP merchandise: T-shirts, the Blair Witch knit cap, the poster, the comic book, book, and CD, and a whole slew of magnets and keychains and other goodies. The tape of "Curse of the Blair Witch" is also available."Josh's Blair Witch Mix" - on sale now!How do you do a soundtrack for a movie with no music? Say Josh made a mix tape for the drive to Burkittsville, which was found in his car after the disappearance, and is now being released as a CD by Chapter III.Order the CD from Chapter III Records and get a free Blair Witch stickman temporary tattoo! Read about the CD at MTV.com, where it was a featured news story on June 29. The Blair Witch Project Comic Book - on sale now!The comic book is being released by ONI Press, and contains several stories from the history of the Blair Witch, including Elly Kedward, Robin Weaver, and Rustin Parr.Go to the ONI website for a phone number you can call to find the comic book shop in their area or to order the comic directly. You can also look at some of the preliminary pages at Artisan's website, but be forwarned, it's very, very slow.... The Blair Witch Project Dossier - on sale now!It's presented as a "true crime"-style book by D. A. Stern, including material from the investigation into the film students' disappearance by private investigator Buck Buchanan. It also contains lots of Blair Witch history and - drum roll - Heather's Journal! |
Cast and Crew NewsHaxan Films signs two-year TV dealThe writer/directors and producers of "The Blair Witch Project" have signed a two-year deal with Fox TV and Regency TV - read more at dailyscifi.com.Joshua Leonard's next movieJosh Leonard is shooting an independent movie in the San Francisco area with - get this - Robert DeNiro! Yikes! Can't wait to see Josh's name in the same credit list as DeNiro's!Michael Williams is getting married!The wedding is in September - all our best to the bride and groom! |
A&e. and Fanatic's Guide NewsOur New York Premiere Trip, Parts I and IIBusy as we are, we finally got some of our New York adventures online...Part I: Getting There is Half the Fun, and Part II: The Press of the Press. More to come! And pictures galore!We're in Entertainment Weekly again!The August 6 issue has an article in the "Internet" section on Internet fan sites that might not be bona fide. It's kind of like the Salon piece (see below), but they actually did some research. And they actually bothered to talk to us, so we got to deny being corporate shills in print. Ha.Salon (see below) gets unfavorable letters!Not as good as a retraction, but we really like the letters to the editor they had the decency to print. Neener neener neener.(See, if we were studio shills, we'd be more mature about it, wouldn't we? We'd have our big studio-shill paycheck to keep us quiet.) We're in the New York Times!The New York Times mentions us in an article on the TBWP premiere at the Angelika.We're in Entertainment Weekly!The July 16 issue has a sidebar on TBWP fan sites, and we're extremely psyched to be mentioned!Salon accuses us of being studio shills!Which we're not. As they'd have discovered if they'd bothered to contact us, via the big "Write Us" link at the top of every single page.A&e. in online TBWP storiesThe Daily Buzz Online (8/4/99) A roundup of Blair Witch fan-sites, parodies, etc. Rather Cool, IMHO :)TNT Roughcut Features: Blair Witch Online This article is about the Blair Witch online phenomenon, and features the top fan sites and interviews with the webmasters (some of our favorite fanatics!) CPNet.com: The Blair Witch Project Talks about the movie, the mythology, the tie-ins - like the book and Sci Fi Channel special - and the ever-popular "Is it real?" question. And hey, Kev O, is that you? CPNet.com: TBWP REVIEW Talks about viewer reactions, and has some quotes from fan-site webmasters (even if they forgot to put in my last name! -e.) A&e.'s Haxan Films/Florida Film Festival Photo GalleryWe have a slew of pictures from our trip to Haxan Films last month, including pictures from the movie's premiere at the 1999 Florida Film Festival. TO THE PHOTO GALLERYAND..... Don't forget to see the first part of our Haxan Visit- Journal (which we'll finish soon, I promise)! A&e.'s HAXAN TRIP, PART ONE |
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