In April 2024, original The Blair Witch Project stars Rei Hance (formerly Heather Donahue), Joshua Leonard and Michael Williams asked Lionsgate for three things: retroactive and future residual-style payments, meaningful consultation on future franchise projects, and a yearly $60,000 grant for an aspiring genre filmmaker. A May 2026 report that Leonard and Williams would executive-produce a new Blair Witch project does not establish that the cast’s compensation request was resolved.
What did the original Blair Witch actors ask Lionsgate for?
The requests came in an open letter after Lionsgate and Blumhouse announced a franchise revival in 2024. The letter proposed three remedies:
- Residual-style payments: retroactive and future payments for the actors’ work in the 1999 film, benchmarked to what SAG-AFTRA residuals would have provided had they had proper union or legal representation. The letter described this as “equivalent to the sum that would’ve been allotted through SAG-AFTRA.”
- Consultation: a meaningful role in future franchise projects where the actors’ names or likenesses might be used promotionally, across films and other formats.
- A grant for new filmmakers: $60,000 each year from Lionsgate to help an unknown or aspiring genre filmmaker make a first feature, with no underlying project rights going to the studio.
The $60,000 was a requested annual grant, not an award reported as having been made. Variety published the letter; The Guardian also reported the request.
Why did they invoke SAG-AFTRA residuals?
Residuals are payments to principal performers when a film is distributed beyond its initial release, with the applicable formula depending on the agreement and the market where the film is exploited. SAG-AFTRA says theatrical residuals are generally based on a percentage of distributor gross receipts, allocated among performers using factors that include time worked and salary. Its standard theatrical schedule gives different rates for different forms of distribution.
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For example, SAG-AFTRA’s current standard theatrical guidance lists 3.6% of distributor gross receipts for several television and streaming categories, and 4.5% of the first million dollars in videocassette or disc receipts, then 5.4% thereafter. Those are schedule terms describing applicable covered work—not a calculation of what the Blair Witch actors are owed. The formulas vary by product, agreement parties and market of exploitation.
According to Variety’s 2024 reporting, no union contract covered the original production. The outlet quoted a SAG-AFTRA representative saying that, in such circumstances, the actors and union were generally limited to appeals to fairness. The actors’ proposed benchmark therefore should not be mistaken for proof of a contractual entitlement under current SAG-AFTRA rates. See SAG-AFTRA’s residuals overview, its standard theatrical residual schedule, and Variety’s report on the cast’s appeal.
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Did the Blair Witch cast get paid before this request?
There are two distinct reported arrangements, and the available accounts describe them differently. The Guardian reported that Leonard said the three actors each received $300,000 in a buyout of their ownership in the original film. Separately, a 2024 Variety feature described a roughly $300,000 settlement for each actor, paid over several years, following an earlier lawsuit concerning use of their names and likenesses in the 2000 sequel. These attributed figures concern different contexts; neither should be treated as a disclosed resolution of the 2024 residual request.
The distinction matters because an ownership buyout or a settlement over promotional use of names and likenesses is not the same thing as residual payments for distribution of the original film. The sources do not establish that either prior arrangement answered the cast’s new requests. The Guardian’s account and Variety’s feature provide the respective descriptions.
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Was the cast’s request granted or settled?
The sources available as of October 8, 2026, do not establish that the 2024 request was granted or settled, and they do not disclose compensation or consultation terms. The Guardian and Variety reported in 2024 that Lionsgate declined to comment on the open letter; that was the studio’s response at that time, not a current statement.
Variety reported on May 1, 2026, that a new project had director Dylan Clark and that Leonard and Michael C. Williams would join the original filmmakers as executive producers. That is evidence of their later involvement in the project, but the report does not say whether the 2024 payment request was resolved or whether Rei Hance is involved. An executive-producer credit alone does not prove a settlement. Variety’s May 2026 report describes the project news.
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Why did the cast’s appeal draw attention?
The dispute links a landmark low-budget horror film to questions about performer compensation and participation in a franchise’s later use. The Associated Press reported that The Blair Witch Project earned $248 million worldwide. That box-office figure helps explain the attention around the actors’ request, but it does not by itself determine what any performer was contractually owed.
Blumhouse chief executive Jason Blum has described the original film’s influence this way: “I don’t think there would have been a Paranormal Activity had there not first been a Blair Witch.” That comment speaks to the film’s influence, not to the terms of any agreement with its cast. The box-office figure was reported by The Associated Press; Blum’s comment appeared in The Guardian.
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