How THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT Could Work as a TV Series
Mike Sprague
|
A few months back we passed along the news that Lionsgate was starting up a new streaming service and one of the properties that they are actively developing into a TV series is The Blair Witch Project. Like many of you out there, when I heard this news, I was stuck wondering just how the hell they plan to make the found footage flick into a long-form series.
Well, after giving it some thought I have some ideas about how the powers that be can approach the new series and not just leave all of us stranded in the woods with three assholes and a camcorder for weeks on end. So let’s get to it!
Let’s go ahead and kick this off by getting into what will be the most significant point of contention about my proposed version of Blair Witch: The Series… Joshua Leonard will be the lead in modern-day. Wait, what!? Why? Because Leonard has become quite the thespian since his days in the Black Hills, starring in such neo-classics as Humpday, Hatchet, and Steven Soderbergh’s Unsane. But also because it all fits into the bigger story at hand.
Yes, the series begins with Josh from the original The Blair Witch Project stumbling out of the woods onto some hunters give or take five years after the original trio of documentary filmmakers went missing. Why is Josh back? Where has he been? And who the hell’s teeth, tongue, and hair were that in the bloody nightmare rags!? Mysteries to uncover for days.
We then jump ahead to modern day where Josh is an alcoholic loner living a meager life in Arizona – far away from anything resembling the woods. While never charged with a crime, he is now all but notorious for killing Heather and Mike and has been the subject of countless YouTube videos, podcasts, and even a 10-part Netflix documentary series. Then one day, Josh is forced to team with an FBI agent, ala Scully from The X-Files, to return to the Black Hills to investigate the case of a new string of missing children. Naturally, he’s hesitant to answer, but the thought of clearing his name and figuring out what happened to Heather and Mike drives him back.
From there the series becomes a procedural of sorts with Josh and his partner unraveling the mysteries of the Blair Witch, Rustin Parr, the Black Hills and Burkittsville in general. You know the tale, a seemingly sweet small town hides dark secrets behind every door, with both supernatural horror and terrors that end up being all too human coming into play weekly.
On top of that, one of the best kickers regarding this approach is that Josh and his team could uncover lost footage from the original film. After all, we all know that the original movie shot way more footage then we saw edited together for the final film, so what better place than a TV series to go through said footage? I mean the “deleted footage” is more than likely boring as fuck and creepy as hell in equal measure, but even the boring parts can be placed under the context of investigative scrutiny and figuring out what happened within the woods all those years ago. And speaking of which, another driving force behind this approach is that we always will have the “is he or isn’t he?” approach to Josh’s character. Is he possessed? Is he helping the evil in the woods? Will he, or won’t he end up evil? Hero or villain? Ah, sounds like prime suspense to me.
Now in addition to this “The X-Files” meets Blair Witch approach, how about we add in an entirely new running storyline altogether? This is TV after all. How about we add in a period Fabel ala The Witch that runs alongside the main plot of Josh and his investigation? Sounds good to me! This secondary storyline would revolve around the town of Burkittsville (back in the days when it was called Blair) and of the rise of Elly Kedward. But here’s the kicker: this story will be about a witch hunt that spread through the town years before Elly came into her dark powers. This story will tell of a young, sweet girl (one guess who she is) who slowly starts to become a witch herself with the best intentions of helping her family and her community.
Think of this storyline as “What if we told Anya Taylor-Joy’s story from The Witch, but in the end, she turns sour and becomes THE Blair Witch?” You know, like how does someone so sweet, helpful, sincere, and innocent get twisted into such as a force of evil? Prime drama to go with that above-mentioned prime suspense.
To add fuel to the fire of my pitch, the series could also take the official step toward commenting on some of the wild Blair Witch theories out there, such as my own which suggests Mary Brown was the Blair Witch/Elly Kedward. Diving into all of the fan theories would make for genuinely engaging mysteries for days, weeks, and years.
But there you have it. Those are my ideas for how Lionsgate could transport The Blair Witch Project into a long-running TV series with aplomb. Think Twin Peaks or The X-Files meets The Witch. What do you think? Let us know below!
BUY THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT ON BLU-RAY HERE!
Categorized:Editorials News
