The botched video transfer of “The Blair Witch Project” still haunts producer Mike Monello 25 years later.
The iconic horror film, which propelled the found footage genre into the 21st century, apparently has never been released as “intended,” according to Monello. A limited edition re-release with the correct version will be out on Blu-ray in November 2024 via Second Sight Films.
“In 1999, theatrical films didn’t originate on video, so there was no codified process for putting them out on video. So they did it like all films back then: They transferred the 35mm negative to video,” Monello tweeted. “Unfortunately, the 35mm negative is NOT the actual camera negative. As a result, the version released for all forms of home video is incorrect. The colors, the motion, the strange rounded corners, it didn’t look like a home video, and it didn’t look like film.”
Monello added that the upcoming edition is the first time the movie has been “properly transferred and released in the way it was intended to be seen.”
He wrote, “This is the FIRST (and for the immediate time being) the ONLY edition of the film to be properly transferred for home video release. It finally looks the way it did to us when we were editing the film. The way we wanted it to look. In fact, if theaters had been able to project video in 1999, then THIS transfer would have played theatrically! The 35mm print was a step we had to take due to the technology of the time.”
Of course, the theatrical version did just fine at the box office, grossing nearly $250 million and spurring a franchise. Still, Monello rightfully wants the original version to be more widely circulated upon its delayed release.
“I hope this version becomes the definitive version that shows up on streaming,” he said. “The old transfer is currently on Peacock, in the wrong aspect ratio, no less! But that’s all up to Lionsgate.”
Lionsgate and Blumhouse recently announced the development of a ”The Blair Witch Project” reboot.
Original “Blair Witch” star Joshua Leonard shared his disdain towards Lionsgate on Facebook, citing how he was iced out of the franchise itself despite helping create it.
“I’m so proud of our little punk-rock movie, and I LOVE the fans who keep the flames burning,” Leonard said. “But at this point, it’s 25 years of disrespect from the folks who’ve pocketed the lion’s share (pun intended) of the profits from OUR work, and that feels both icky and classless.”
