‘Blair Witch Project’ Star Heather Donahue Won’t Join Revival

Last month, we learned Blumhouse and Atomic Monster were spinning up a new Blair Witch movie. After the original film’s cast demanded proper compensation for that being a success, two of them—Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard—signed onto this new one as producers. As for Heather Donahue? Well…

In a recent Facebook post, Donahue (now going by Rei Hance) confirmed she’s not involved in the upcoming film. After producer James Wan indicated she was part of the revival, she wanted to hit back against the “willful confusion.” According to her, she was offered an agreement that “personally raised difficult long-term questions about rights, future technological use of identity and voice, the ability to speak freely, and compensation.” While wishing the project well, she affirmed that “preserving my autonomy mattered more to me.”

Hance didn’t expand on the terms of that agreement. But the mention of “future technological use” suggests the next Blair Witch could use generative AI in some capacity, given how prevalent the technology’s been in filmmaking lately. Movies made with genAI played at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, and Disclosure Day star Emily Blunt recently revealed Stephen Spielberg was open to using the tech to create her croaking sounds in the film. There’ve been horror movies about AI in recent years, generative or otherwise, but so far, no major films have been made with it. (Or at least, none that we know about.)

This is just speculation, though—at time of writing, we don’t know much about the next Blair Witch. More information, including how it’s made, will roll out in the coming months.

[via Deadline]

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