Editorials
Where the ‘Blair Witch Project’ Franchise Could Go Next
There’s no overstating the cultural impact of The Blair Witch Project. It wasn’t just one of the most profitable movies ever made (grossing nearly $250 million on a production budget of $35,000), but it was also a storytelling landmark that signaled a shift in how audiences interact with media. That’s why it’s no surprise that this DIY masterpiece spawned a long-running franchise, as well as inspiring countless spoofs and an ongoing wave of like-minded Found Footage flicks.
Whether you’re a fan of reality-bending epistolary mysteries or appreciate a good old-fashioned supernatural horror story, there’s a lot to love about the Blair Witch mythos. That’s why the franchise remains one of my all-time favorite pieces of media, and I don’t just mean the original movie. From Gathering of Developers’ survival horror trilogy to D.A. Stern’s The Blair Witch Project: A Dossier, I’ve been in love with this mythology since I was a teenager. My first tattoo was even the infamous Elly Kedward stick-figure design, which I hope gives me some kind of supernatural buff when directing Found Footage movies.
So when it was reported that Lionsgate is allegedly planning to bring this iconic franchise back for another round of shaky-cam mayhem, I was naturally ecstatic. I think there’s something to love about every entry in the series so far (especially Joe Berlinger’s unfairly maligned Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows), so suffice to say that I’m always down for a return to Burkittsville.
Of course, the Found Footage sub-genre has changed a lot since 1999, and so has our relationship with viral marketing and faux reality. The open-ended nature of these movies also means that direct sequels with returning characters would be a little complicated, forcing filmmakers to think outside the box when it comes to a possible follow-up. That being said, this humble writer has a few ideas about where the franchise could go next.
“Let’s go, let’s go! Are you not scared enough?”
First of all, I’d suggest bringing back the narrative-based marketing campaign. Half the fun of the original Blair Witch Project didn’t even stem from the film itself, but the urban-legend-styled hype surrounding it. ARGs and other forms of unconventional storytelling have come a long way since the 90s, with online juggernauts like Marble Hornets and The Sun Vanished proving that viewers are hungry for reality-bending interactive enigmas. That’s why it would be fun to see filmmakers come up with innovative ways to get audiences involved with a new Blair Witch mystery before they’ve even seen the movie. Instead of those infamous TV specials, maybe we could get a dedicated YouTube channel or Twitter account this time around.
In fact, this hypothetical sequel shouldn’t even be marketed as a film, but as a multi-media experience combining elements of True Crime, social media and traditional horror. Sure, contemporary worries surrounding the political consequences of things like fake news and conspiracy theories mean that actively misleading marketing is a big no-no, especially now that audiences are much more skeptical about allegedly “true” stories, but a new Blair Witch movie could actually address issues like misinformation in the digital age.
The lack of a compelling marketing campaign and believable presentation is likely the reason why Adam Wingard’s 2016 sequel didn’t connect with audiences like the studio intended. While I still think it’s a solid horror flick with a kick-ass third act, there’s no denying that it feels way too much like a traditional movie, perhaps even more so than Berlinger’s “true story re-enactment” in Book of Shadows. If the goal is being realistic, a new Found Footage film would have to look and feel less polished and scripted in order to tell this kind of story.
Another idea would be for the sequel to go full meta. The success of Radio Silence’s new Scream has proven that audiences are still hungry for self-referential thrills, so a story that acknowledges the franchise’s massive success and pseudo-reality origins could play around with Found Footage tropes and even comment on the current state of the horror genre. The plot could borrow from the setup of Berlinger’s sequel and maybe center on a group of Blair Witch fans investigating the franchise’s real life inspirations. Hell, you could even admit that all the other films in the series have been complete works of fiction, with this new group accidentally stumbling onto something real for the first time.
‘Book of Shadows’ had more than a few good ideas that deserve revisiting.
Of course, the absolute best thing that Lionsgate could do is bring the franchise back to its roots by returning it to its creators. Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez actually had quite a few plans for possible sequels, though their ideas have been largely ignored since Artisan insisted on rushing out a follow-up before the duo was ready for another story. After the success of the original Paranormal Activity, Myrick and Sánchez even came close to producing one of their proposed sequels, which would supposedly bring back actors from the original and further flesh out the backstory of the Black Hills Forest. Unfortunately, the project was eventually shelved by Lionsgate, which then began work on Wingard’s film.
Now that legacy sequels are back with a vengeance, with everything from Halloween to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre trying to return their franchises to their origins, it’s clearly the perfect time for the studio to once again partner with the duo that revolutionized Found Footage filmmaking in the first place. It’s not like Myrick and Sánchez were one-hit wonders either, with both of them having successful careers in both film and television (Sánchez even contributed to Bloody-Disgusting’s own V/H/S franchise), so it would make a lot of sense to hand them back the keys to the Blair Witch kingdom.
Regardless of what Lionsgate ultimately chooses to do with the franchise, the important thing is that the legacy of the Blair Witch lives on. I’m grateful that new audiences will have the chance to interact with this rich mythology. And even if the eventual next sequel isn’t what we’re expecting or hoping for, remember: it’ll never replace the legendary original.
Five decades ago, Stephen King published the story of a bullied girl with telekinetic powers and forever changed the world of horror.
Carrie follows a high school misfit who seeks revenge for a hideous prank by psychically destroying her senior prom. The name Carrie White has become synonymous with the concept of a formal dance thanks to a flawless adaptation from Brian De Palma. Now fifty years after the film’s release, Mike Flanagan is putting his own stamp on the troubling story.
Rather than a feature film, the writer/director will expand King’s relatively slim debut novel into an eight-episode miniseries for Amazon Prime set to premiere on October 7.
Flanagan is no stranger to the world of Stephen King. A long-time Constant Reader, he first made waves with his daring adaptation of Gerald’s Game (2017), a novel many fans considered un-filmable. His underrated Doctor Sleep merges the disparate plot of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining with King’s original source material, and his 2024 genre-bending tearjerker The Life of Chuck faithfully executes one of the author’s most metaphysical novellas.
He’s currently mired in pre-production for an expansive adaptation of The Dark Tower series, keystone to King’s connected universe, and Warner Bros. recently announced that Flanagan will helm a new version of The Mist, King’s 1980 novella which sees a small Maine town overrun by otherworldly monsters.
Considering the vast array of the author’s previously unadapted material, an obvious question arises. Why reimagine Carrie in 2026? Noting the timeless nature of the content, Flanagan expressed his desire to bring the story of a bullied girl into modern times, mirroring his approach to Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. He explained, “The only way to approach it was to build something new out of the ingredients of Carrie. Otherwise, there’s really no purpose in trying to retread ground that’s been so beautifully walked before.”
His miniseries will maintain the novel’s bloody bookends while delivering “big surprises” along the way.
A New Prom Night Nightmare
The roughly 60-second teaser introduces Summer H. Howell as Carrie White just before the moment of catastrophe. Standing in a prom dress, she smiles at her applauding classmates with an ominous crown perched upon her head. Moments later, Carrie unleashes a rage-filled scream into the night air while promgoers rush for the exit doors. But careful examination of this scene shows Carrie wearing a different, albeit dirty dress as she seems to telekinetically punish her peers.
In an exclusive first look with Entertainment Weekly, Flanagan explains that in his version of the story, “the events of that prom are going to be completely different.” An open trunk emitting a crimson glow does hint at the pig’s blood dumped on Carrie’s head, but it’s likely Flanagan’s formal dance will be a different kind of horror altogether. Despite these changes, the series may end with the widespread destruction outlined in the source material. Unlike any previous adaptations, King’s novel ends with the near-total destruction of Chamberlain, Maine. A flaming street in Flanagan’s trailer promises similar carnage no matter what prank sparks Carrie’s deadly revenge.
The Monstrous Addition of Social Media
On the opposite end of this fiery conclusion is an extreme act of bullying that brings together the story’s main cast. King’s novel begins as Carrie gets her first period while showering in the girls’ locker room. Completely unaware of the concept of menstruation, the sheltered girl thinks she’s bleeding to death. Her classmates respond with vitriolic rage. Led by ultra-mean girl Chris Hargensen (Alison Thornton), they mock the terrified teen while pelting her with tampons. Glimpses of this disturbing event reveal that Flanagan has excised the scene’s nudity while adding a seismic update. As Carrie sobs in the shower stall, Chris and her friends film the breakdown with their phones.
Other scenes note the presence of social media, bringing King’s fifty-year-old story into the digital age.
Flanagan’s adaptation promises to explore the destructive power of social media, an often invisible entity with a potential for harm rivaling Carrie’s own powers. While King’s tormented heroine suffers in front of a small group of girls, Flanagan’s version of the incident will likely become a viral video, potentially circling the globe on social media. Similar to Katt Shea’s criminally underrated The Rage: Carrie 2, which includes elements of revenge porn exploitation, Flanagan’s modern retelling will distinguish itself by exploring the nebulous cruelty of online bullying, a force ten times more powerful than the irl pranks King first envisioned.
A Completely Reimagined White Family
In addition to modernizing these canon events, Flanagan hints at updates to Carrie’s oppressive upbringing at the hands of her mother, Margaret White (Samantha Sloyan). Dead before the novel begins, we never meet Carrie’s domineering father Ralph, known to carry a bible alongside his gun. Flanagan’s White household will be an altogether different beast. In his version of the story, Carrie and her mother have been hidden away in the unassuming home, forced out of hiding by Ralph’s unexpected death. Perhaps we will finally meet this elusive man whose shadow hangs over his wife and child. Considering the White family’s fundamentalist lifestyle, this reimagining hints at tradwife culture and a home ruled by staunch patriarchal control.
Whereas King’s Carrie has been tormented by her classmates since Kindergarten, Flanagan’s Carrie will be a wide-eyed newcomer to public school, eager to make friends and engage with her peers. We glimpse Carrie cozying up to Chris and the equally popular Sue Snell (Siena Agudong) as she navigates a new social scene. Of course, we know this kindness is part of an elaborate plot designed to lull Carrie into a false sense of camaraderie, setting up an atrocious act of public humiliation. These brief moments of feigned compassion put Sue’s own complicity into question. Will Flanagan’s version of the character find the courage to defend Carrie from vicious bullies or will she succumb to peer pressure and join in the mob mentality?
Perhaps the biggest deviation from King’s original text is the relationship between Carrie and her mother. King’s Margaret White is a horrifically abusive religious zealot whose worldview has been hardened by internalized misogyny. She shames Carrie for menstruating, locks her in a closet to “pray,” and regrets not killing her child in infancy. She’s also responsible for Carrie’s social ostracization. Known to berate her neighbors for their “sins,” Margaret forces her daughter to live by an extreme code of conduct and disallows any potential friends lest they corrupt the girl with their worldly ways.
Flanagan’s version of the character is perhaps just as much a victim as Carrie herself. Also trapped inside her home, his Margaret is overly vigilant, her own trauma manifesting as strict control. Describing a more sympathetic depiction of the iconic villain, Flanagan explains, “Our Margaret White is a woman who fiercely loves her daughter and wants to protect her from this world … [She] doesn’t know how to do that and thinks the way to protect her is to close her off; not punitively, but to create this private utopia.”
Despite this potential softening, Sloyan’s Margaret may still have a sharp edge. Though she has appeared in many Flanagan projects, from Hush (2016) to The Fall of the House of Usher (2023), she is best known for her role as the abhorrent Bev Keane in the poignant saga Midnight Mass (2021). Perhaps inspired by King’s Margaret White, Bev is pious and sadistic, willing to punish anyone who does not adhere to her warped approximation of Catholicism.
Flanagan specifically wrote Margaret with Sloyan in mind, likely remembering the actress’s eerie ability to create deceptive empathy and shift our allegiances on a dime.
Expanding Stephen King’s Telekinetic Universe
While most of King’s story deals with an unthinkable prom night in Chamberlain, Maine, large sections of the semi-epistolary novel see experts debating the nature of telekinesis. Do Carrie’s frightening abilities represent a new phase in human evolution or is the prom night carnage merely a fluke? King settles the debate with a shocking denouement in which a young mother recounts her infant daughter’s ability to dangle her crib toys in midair. We’re left to wonder if she will become another tormented girl who surprises the world with metaphysical strength.
Flanagan plans to build out this brief scene while amplifying themes of female empowerment. After introducing our main cast of characters, episode two will open with an unrelated story in which we meet another girl with the TK gene. Each subsequent chapter will expand this world, building out a roster of telekinetic young women. Considering King’s fondness for stories about powerful kids, often described as possessing “the shining,” Constant Readers will no doubt have their eyes peeled for various Easter Eggs nodding to the author’s vast catalogue.
Giving Carrie Her Own Voice
Perhaps the most striking distinction in Flanagan’s new trailer is the extent to which we hear Carrie’s voice. The sneak peek is fully narrated by the titular prom queen as she demands accountability. “I want to know why,” she explains while detailing Chris’ elaborate plan. Aside from the aforementioned coda, King’s book essentially ends with the aftermath of the prom night tragedy, leaving little time for Carrie to reflect. His shifting narrative does bring the reader into her fragile mind, though not before she’s been cowed by relentless cruelty. We watch Carrie sink into bloodthirsty revenge, but never hear a considered desire for justice or repair.
Flanagan’s original monologue allows Carrie to voice her pain and mourn the life she could have had. We’re also treated to a mug shot-style photo of Chris with a bruised and bandaged face, implying that the mean girl will have to answer for her senseless sadism.
Flanagan is known for filling his series adaptations with heartwrenching speeches that cut to the heart of his thematic intentions, and this teaser seems to follow suit. After years of fans, critics, and scholars analyzing Carrie’s pain, perhaps his modern retelling will offer the titular anti-hero a chance to finally speak for herself.
You must be logged in to post a comment.