The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Daniel Myrick Eduardo Sánchez
Produced by	Robin Cowie Gregg Hale
Written by	Daniel Myrick Eduardo Sánchez
Starring	Heather Donahue Michael C. Williams Joshua Leonard
Music by	Antonio Cora
Cinematography	Neal Fredericks
Edited by	Daniel Myrick Eduardo Sánchez
Production company	Haxan Films
Distributed by	Artisan Entertainment
Release date	January 25, 1999 (1999-01-25) (Sundance) July 14, 1999 (1999-07-14) (United States)
Running time	81 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$60,000
Box office	$248.6 million

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
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The Blair Witch Project is a 1999 American psychological horror film written, directed and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. The film tells the fictional story of three student filmmakers (Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard) who hike in the Black Hills near Burkittsville, Maryland in 1994 to film a documentary about a local legend known as the Blair Witch. The three disappear, but their video and sound equipment (along with most of the footage they shot) is discovered a year later; the "recovered footage" is the film the viewer is watching.

Myrick and Sánchez conceived the idea of a fictional legend of the Blair Witch in 1993. They developed a 35-page screenplay which left plenty of room for dialogue improvisation since it was an outline of the event. A casting call advertisement for Backstage magazine was put up by the directors and Donahue, Williams, and Leonard were cast. Principal photography began in October 1997 and took place for eight days in Maryland. About 19 hours of footage was shot and was edited down to 90 minutes.

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 1999, during which promoted a marketing campaign that listed the actors as either "missing" or "deceased". The film's distribution rights were bought by Artisan Entertainment for US$1.1 million. The film had its United States release on July 14, 1999, and later expanded to a wider release starting on July 30. While it received unexpected acclaim from critics, the film's audience reception was polarized. The film became a resounding box-office success, grossing over $248 million worldwide against an estimated budget of $60,000 making it one of the most successful independent films of all time. The DVD was released on October 26, 1999 by Artisan, and the Blu-ray edition was released on October 5, 2010 by Lionsgate.