The Blair Witch Project cast came out against Lionsgate after the announcement of a new reboot at CinemaCon this year. The year also marks the 25th anniversary of the project, and the cast now goes into detail about how they struggled after their massively successful independent film. Haxan Films hired Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Joshua Leonard for different roles in 1997.
The three actors were intimately involved in the film, even learning to operate the camera and the sound recording equipment. Their real names were used in the film, which was not something they agreed to. When the film became a sensation at the Sundance Film Festival, Artisan Entertainment bought the film for $1.1 million.
The Blair Witch Project Cast Struggled Due to The Secrecy of Their Role
Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, the directors of the film, had maintained an illusion that the three actors had actually disappeared to promote the film. When Artisan Entertainment took over the film, they got pretty serious about the film’s promotion. The production house barred the actors from appearing at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film was set to premiere in May 1999.
Heather Donahue had hired a publicist for her, but the company did not allow her to book any interviews at Cannes. Joshua Leonard was forced to drop an independent film that he had signed because Artisan banned him from revealing his identity as an actor. During a recent interview with Variety, Leonard opened up about his struggles after the film’s massive success.
He revealed that his agent was shocked to find him doing a catering gig after his film blew up. He was all set to appear in The Tonight Show, and his agent asked him why he was in a low-paying job. Leonard replied that he hadn’t made any money from the movie and was struggling to pay the rent. Leonard recalled to Variety:
My agent asked me what the fuck I was doing. I said, ‘You know that I haven’t made any money.’ We were all struggling to pay the rent.
The three actors, including Michael C. Williams, hoped that Artisan would eventually give them the profits from the film’s success. However, all they got were some fruit baskets when the film crossed the $100 million mark. According to The Numbers, the film earned a staggering $248 million worldwide. Not only did they get their due share, but Artisan soon announced a sequel, Blair Witch 2.
In 2000, Donahue convinced Leonard and Williams to sue Artisan. By the time, they reached a settlement in February 2004, Artisan had been acquired by Lionsgate. Each actor received a mere compensation of $300,000 whereas the producers of the film earned at least $35 million in their financial settlement.
According to the lawsuit, Lionsgate couldn’t use their names and images without consent anymore. However, it didn’t stop the production house.
The Blair Witch Project Cast Recently Wrote A Letter To Lionsgate After Reboot Announcement
The three actors were blindsided when Lionsgate recently announced a reboot of the 1999 film. Donahue, Williams, and Leonard were looking forward to celebrating the 25th anniversary of the original film, but the news frustrated them. They wrote an open letter to Lionsgate demanding two main things. The demands were (via Leonard’s Facebook post):
1. Retroactive + future residual payments to Heather, Michael and Josh for acting services rendered in the original BWP, equivalent to the sum that would’ve been allotted through SAG-AFTRA, had we had proper union or legal representation when the film was made.
2. Meaningful consultation on any future Blair Witch reboot, sequel, prequel, toy, game, ride, escape room, etc…, in which one could reasonably assume that Heather, Michael & Josh’s names and/or likenesses will be associated for promotional purposes in the public sphere.
While SAG-AFTRA supported the actors in their communication to Lionsgate, they revealed that the union is “generally limited to appealing to fairness” since the film was a nonunion production. While Donahue and Williams have stepped away from acting after their challenging experience, Leonard continues to pursue his dream even though it’s a struggle.
The Blair Witch Project is now available for streaming on Freevee.
