'The Woods' Is Actually a Surprise 'Blair Witch' Sequel

Earlier this year, the trailer for Adam Wingard’s upcoming movie The Woods hinted at a found footage film promising to be equally suspenseful as V/H/S and The Guest. While little was given about the plot aside from a group of college kids going camping, it’s now been revealed that the movie is actually a sequel to the 1999 film The Blair Witch Project. During Comic-Con, a screening was billed under The Woods shortly before unveiling the true title of the film, which will simply be called Blair Witch. In an interview with EW, Lionsgate executive Jason Constantine explained the reason why the team wanted to keep the sequel a secret:

“We live in an age where it’s harder and harder for a movie to be a genuine surprise for an audience, because of the internet, because of Twitter, because of all the discussions that can happen online. Sometimes, you want to embrace that for a movie, but we really felt, on this film, that it would be great if audiences could be genuinely surprised.”

Wingard partnered with longtime collaborator and writer Simon Barrett who stated, “[With] V/H/S, V/H/S 2, and especially You’re Next, we wouldn’t even tell people that those movies existed until their premieres were announced. That was our way to make that a cool thing. In this era of social media, and of everyone hyping everything, we’ve always felt that is the right approach: give people less, don’t tell them exactly what it is, let them be surprised.” They received approval from the original team behind the Blair Witch Project, developed the script, and produced the movie with secrecy extending to even the crew and Lionsgate executives. Actor James Allen McCune will be playing the brother of Heather Donohue, a character from the first film. Watch the updated trailer below and catch Blair Witch in theaters Sept. 16.