If you go back to the woods, are you sure of a scary surprise? Well, if you were to head to director Adam Wingard's next film, formerly known as The Woods, you might be: it's actually a stealth second sequel to 1999's The Blair Witch Project. See the trailer below.
Wingard brought the film to the San Diego Comic-Con Friday night, still billed under its original name, only for the surprise to be revealed. “The Woods was our working title,” Wingard tells Entertainment Weekly. “When we signed on to it, we knew that the name was eventually going to be changed. To us, it wasn’t even going to be part of the marketing. But I think Lionsgate made a really smart decision, using that.”
Wingard and his You're Next/The Guest collaborator Simon Barrett kept the secret even from some main crew members on the film, which was an effort in itself. The story finds a group of college students venturing into the Black Hills Forest in Maryland to uncover the mysteries surrounding the disappearance of James' (James Allen McCune) sister who many believe is connected to the legend of the Blair Witch. At first the group is hopeful, especially when a pair of locals offer to act as guides through the dark and winding woods, but as the endless night wears on, the group is visited by a menacing presence. Slowly, they begin to realize the legend is all too real and more sinister than they could have imagined...
It's come as a huge surprise, even if to their credit, the team at Bloody Disgusting had reported on Blair Witchery last year, though no-one joined the dots.