‘The Blair Witch Project’ Proved to Be a Financial Nightmare for Its Stars

Despite not being the first found footage movie, ‘The Blair Witch Project’ transformed the genre and went on to become one of the most successful films ever made. It made around $250 million globally on a budget of less than $1 million. Participating in such a popular movie usually opens up new doors and results in a lot of media appearances. ‘The Blair Witch Project’ case, however, was unique in many respects.

The three primary leads in the film were played by unpaid actors Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Joshua Leonard. The actors found it challenging to profit from the film’s success because of the marketing campaign’s strong promotion of the movie as an authentic video of real-life events. For months following its first showing, the trio was unable to pursue roles or interviews because the promotional campaign implied that the characters had vanished.

Image Courtesy: Screen Rant 

The actors disclosed in a 2024 interview with Variety that the production company, Haxan Films, gave them a meagre one-and-a-half-page contract. This agreement permitted Haxan to use their true names for marketing purposes but only gave them 1% of profits over $1 million. Unfortunately, they only received a fruit basket when the movie’s box office receipts exceeded $100 million, making them feel excluded from the riches.

As the movie became more well-known, merchandise bearing the actors’ images appeared, but the actors’ legal options were restricted. After three years, they settled their lawsuit against Artisan, the movie’s distributor, for using their identities without permission in ‘Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2,’ for a total of $300,000. Donahue stated that the misuse continued despite their efforts to stop more exploitation of their identities, which is why she took action against Lionsgate for their ongoing use of her name and image.

Image Courtesy: IMDb

Donahue and Williams left Hollywood for more traditional careers, but Leonard has continued to pursue acting. Their stories shed light on a less positive side of the movie’s history and emphasize how crucial it is to pay creatives fairly for their contributions. As Donahue said, if their identities are valuable, they should be paid appropriately; if not, they should no longer be used at all.

–Farheen Ali