Beware the rabid creature that could be a studio with an sudden blockbuster on its palms. E book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (starring future Burn Discover main man Jeffrey Donovan) was rushed into manufacturing in time for an October 2000 launch—and it made $47.7 million. It solely price a reported $15 million to make, however… 14 p.c on Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic rating of 15 (the unique is at 87 p.c and 81).
The spell was damaged, similar to that. Director Joe Berlinger mentioned that his imaginative and prescient for the movie—about vacationers who go to Burkittsville after seeing The Blair Witch Venture—was compromised in postproduction. (The sequel was nominated for a bunch of Razzies, but it surely could not beat Battlefield Earth.)
“That is to not say that my director’s minimize would have garnered a greater response from critics per se, by no less than I might have stood by the movie for representing my imaginative and prescient and if folks hated that model, it will have been much less painful as a result of it is what I’d have wished to be seen,” Berlinger instructed Deadline in 2016.
That being mentioned, the Paradise Misplaced director disputes the generalization that Blair Witch 2 was a flop. “It grossed $48 million worldwide on a $10 million finances and did over $25 million on DVD… Pure gravy on DVD,” he mentioned. “I do know as a result of my DGA residuals on this movie paid for my daughter’s school training.”
They’re credited on IMDb as government producers and for creating the characters, however Myrick and Sánchez in any other case washed their palms of E book of Shadows. They wished to do a prequel, which was tremendous with Artisan, however additionally they wished to attend a beat—which wasn’t a part of the studio’s plan. So, the pair willingly stepped apart.
“We gave just a few notes on earlier drafts of the script, they usually did not take heed to any of them,” Myrick recalled to The Week. “So we mentioned, ‘Okay. Properly, invite us to the premiere once you’re prepared.'”