The Blair Witch Project is getting released as creators intended

The Blair Witch Project is getting a new home media release in a way that the creators of the movie had intended it to be seen.

For those unaware of the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of home media, there’s a lot of incestuous copying off of copies, which is what happened here. According to co-producer Mike Monello, The Blair Witch Project was originally filmed on Hi8 and 16mm film. In order to get the film in theaters, the movie had to be transferred to 35mm film via a process called “telecine”.

But when it was time for the home release of the movie, rather than using the original master which the 35mm film was recorded on, distributor Artisan Entertainment allegedly opted to record another copy from the already copied 35mm theatrical medium. Anyone who’s fussed with film (or even AI art, for example) can explain that a copy of a copy results in degradation. In this case, it exacerbated film grain and editing.

25 years later, our little movie, ‘The Blair Witch Project,’ is FINALLY being released as we always intended. Here are details for the curious. pic.twitter.com/w6S4dm2KKI

— Mike Monello (@mikemonello) November 11, 2024

The new release includes 90+ minutes of unseen footage and a documentary. Monello calls on fans to ask Lionsgate if they’d be willing to release this full “Region B” version to US streaming sites.

You can find the Region B version of The Blair Witch Project on the Second Sight website here (Standard Edition here).