Blair witch actor slams '25 years of disrespect' as new reboot is announced: 'feels both icky and classless'

A cast member from the original _Blair Witch Project_ film is speaking out about a newly announced reboot of the franchise 25 years later. On April 10 at CinemaCon 2024, Lionsgate and

Blumhouse announced a new _Blair Witch_ movie is in development, as Adam Fogelson, chair of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said in a statement that the "new vision" will

"reintroduce this horror classic for a new generation." The 1999 original turned out to be a box office hit on a minuscule budget, and it was followed up with a less-well-received

sequel, _Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2_, in 2000, plus a reboot in 2016. Joshua Leonard, who starred in the original found-footage horror movie alongside Heather Donahue and Michael C.

Williams, shared a post on social media April 11 expressing "frustration" over the reboot and saying he didn't know about the new project until after it made headlines last

week. Leonard also alleged that he and his fellow cast and crew weren't accurately compensated after the success of the 1999 movie. (He says they made $300,000 "and NEVER saw

another dime.") A spokesperson for Lionsgate did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. "There were many factors that made BWP a success: timing, marketing,

etc. But there was also the FACT that us weirdos got together, with virtually no resources, AND MADE A FILM THAT WORKED!" wrote Leonard. "Can we just go on record and say that the

film itself is a huge part of why we’re still talking about it 25 years later?" "I’m so proud of our little punk-rock movie, and I LOVE the fans who keep the flames burning. But at

this point, it’s 25 years of disrespect from the folks who’ve pocketed the lion’s share (pun intended) of the profits from OUR work, and that feels both icky and classless." Leonard,

who says he's since been in touch with Lionsgate over the matter, noted in another post on April 12 that "I don’t know if we have a legal leg to stand on" but that "money

isn’t the point." "We signed contracts when we were kids, with no legal or union support. We were struggling artists, and the fact that we didn’t have to worry about food/rent for

a while was as big a win as any of us could’ve dreamed of," he wrote. "I will never not be grateful to BWP for all the amazing stuff that came out of it." He argued, though,

that the issue "isn’t legal — it’s about human decency." "The age-old saga of not giving proper credit/ respect to the people who make stuff in this world - the craftspeople

off who’s backs corporations make their profits," wrote Leonard, who added that he is "99% retired from the 'industry' and no longer fearful of who might blacklist

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INTEREST STORIES.  The new _Blair Witch_ film will be produced by Roy Lee and Jason Blum, the latter of whom is behind the lucrative _Paranormal Activity_ franchise. "I’m a huge admirer

of _The Blair Witch Project_, which brought the idea of found-footage horror to mainstream audiences and became a true cultural phenomenon," Blum said in a statement last week. "I

don’t think there would have been a _Paranormal Activity_ had there not first been a _Blair Witch_, so this feels like a truly special opportunity and I’m excited to see where it

leads," he said.