Duplass costars with "Blair's" Leonard in the upcoming indie comedy, "Humpday," an entry that won praise at Sundance this year. The movie has enjoyed such success on the festival circuit that, for the first time, Leonard, 34, says he's no longer introduced at parties as "Josh, that guy from 'Blair Witch.' "
The other participants haven't been as fortunate in finding a follow-up. Leonard's costars, Heather Donahue and Michael Williams, have appeared in only a handful of movies. Williams returned to his day job moving furniture in upstate New York. Donahue, whose terrified, flashlight-illuminated visage became synonymous with the movie, became the butt of "Blair" parodies. She has since distanced herself from the film. ("She really got boxed in with the public's perception," Leonard says.)
When Artisan, the film's distributor, demanded an immediate sequel, directors Sanchez and Myrick passed. (That movie, "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2," bombed.) Burned out on the genre, they also declined offers to direct cookie-cutter horror sequels such as "The Exorcist 4" and "Freddy vs. Jason." By the time they were ready to return to scaring people, they found that the heat from "Blair" had dissipated.
"I can see how people think we're one-hit wonders," Myrick, 46, says. "I'll be the first to admit that I've put a lot of pressure on myself to relive the 'Blair' days. I can get down on myself sometimes."
That said, after cashing their multimillion-dollar "Blair" paychecks, Myrick and Sanchez, 40, each married their longtime girlfriends and became fathers. Each has continued to make movies, though their genre projects have all gone straight to video. Each seems to enjoy a balance between work and family that evades many in the business.
And they're now ready to make another "Blair" movie. They pitched a period prequel to Lionsgate (which owns the franchise's rights since buying Artisan), but it was deemed too costly. The filmmakers are now bandying about ideas for a low-budget, contemporary sequel.
"I'm a firm believer that you're where you're at by your own choices and, for better or worse, we're operating on a small level by choice," Myrick says. "We've got a lot of movies left in us." He pauses, and then laughs. "They may all be 'Blair' movies but that's better than nothing."
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