For better or worse, in 1999 the found footage horror genre was given wings with the release of ‘The Blair Witch Project’ and now an extended version might be happening. The original cut was 90 minutes though in a recent conversation over at the Found Footage Critic Podcast, co-creator of the series Eduardo Sanchez revealed that over 19 hours of usable footage had been created and was still laying around collecting dust. Over the course of the interview, Sanchez not only shared this revelation but said that he would be more than interested in creating an extended cut for home release for Lionsgate if they would be interested in releasing it.
“In a couple of weeks I could probably take [The Blair Witch Project] and edit a longer version. I know the fans are like ‘everybody wants to see it’ . . . it would be cool to do, honestly. I wouldn’t hesitate to do that if Lionsgate Films hired me. I think it would a lot of fun. […] Start a petition . . . if I can get enough interest from the fans, I can bring it to Lionsgate Films’ attention.”
While found footage films have been done to death since the release of ‘The Blair Witch Project,’ there have been some gems among the rough and no one can fault the viral marketing that they were able to pull off with pre-Internet hype. The word of mouth sensation that it may have been based on real events had theaters packed and I vividly remember being creeped out by the film when seeing it on the big screen for the first time.
While putting together such a cut would be nearly impossible by the September 16th release of ‘Blair Witch‘, there is plenty of time to put one together before the eventual home release of the sequel were to be released.
You can sign the official petition right here.
Would you be interested in checking out an extended edition of the original ‘The Blair Witch Project’ with new footage? If this happens would you be hoping for more scares or plot and character development? Share your thoughts below!
Source: Cinema Blend
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
