Summary

• The Blair Witch Project's success was heavily reliant on its unique marketing campaign, impossible to replicate now.
• The found-footage genre got a boost with The Blair Witch Project in 1999, but subsequent sequels failed to recreate its magic.
• Blumhouse and Lionsgate's new Blair Witch movie faces challenges in finding success without the original movie's unique marketing strategy.

A new the Blair Witch franchise. The found-footage genre within the world of horror got a major boost in 1999 with The Blair Witch Project, directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. The Blair Witch Project introduced viewers to Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Joshua Leonard, three filmmaking students who went into the Black Hills forest to make a documentary about the local myth of the Blair Witch.

As soon as they entered the forest, strange things began to happen around them, they got lost, and Josh suddenly disappeared. The Blair Witch Project was a critical and commercial success, and, unsurprisingly, it made way for a franchise, with two sequels, novels, video games, various mockumentaries, and more. The franchise is now being revived with a new Blair Witch movie from Blumhouse and Lionsgate, and though details are unknown, the project is ignoring the biggest challenge it’s going to face, which the original movie created for all the rest.

Blumhouse's New Blair Witch Movie Can't Repeat The Original's Genius Marketing Strategy

The Marketing Strategy Of The Blair With Project Was Key To Its Success

Even if Blumhouse attempted to recreate a viral marketing campaign like that of The Blair Witch Project, a quick internet search would quickly debunk whatever they try to sell.

The concept of The Blair Witch Project was simple, as was the production of it, with a budget of $35,000-60,000 (and a final cost of $200,000-750,000 after post-production), but the key to its success was its marketing campaign. The Blair Witch Project used the internet to its favor and created a website with faux police reports, newsreel-style interviews, and fielding questions about the “missing” students to sell the idea that all the movie’s footage was real. The studio also distributed flyers at festivals and made posters asking people to come forward with any information on the “missing” students.

The Blair Witch Project’s website also featured actors posing as police and detectives giving their testimony about their involvement in the “case”, sparking conversation over whether the film was fiction or a disturbing documentary. To further sell the idea of the footage being real, Myrick and Sánchez fully developed the legend of the Blair Witch, and all of this combined led to the belief that Heather, Mike, and Josh were caught by a witch, with groups of viewers venturing into the forest to find them.

Unfortunately, this could have only been done with the first movie, as now everyone knows that the Blair Witch isn’t real and Heather, Mike, and Josh were actors, not students with bad luck. Even if Blumhouse attempted to recreate a viral marketing campaign like that of The Blair Witch Project, a quick internet search would immediately debunk whatever they try to sell, no matter how much the studio invests in the campaign.

Blair Witch's Sequels Already Proved That The Original Movie's Magic Can't Be Repeated

The Blair Witch Project Was A Very Unique Horror Movie

The concept of The Blair Witch Project works well for one movie, as it can’t be replicated or expanded upon without losing the mysticism that made the first movie so great.

The Blair Witch franchise is proof that not every successful movie can launch a franchise that matches the original movie’s success. None of The Blair Witch Project’s sequels – Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 and Blair Witch – were well-received and thus couldn’t replicate the success of the first movie, and that’s in large part to the story. The concept of The Blair Witch Project works well for one movie, as it can’t be replicated or expanded upon without losing the mysticism that made the first movie so great.

Blumhouse’s new Blair Witch movie is being described as a “new take”, but it’s unclear what exactly that means. It’s unlikely the new Blair Witch movie will be a remake, and it’s not a franchise that could have legacy sequels (Blair Witch kind of tried that by introducing Heather’s brother, James, played by James Allen McCune), but whatever path it takes, it won’t be able to use the same marketing tricks that made the first movie a viral sensation.