Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the woods, “The Blair Witch Project” returns. And it’s not just the camera-shaking and twig-crunching you know and fear. Here comes the big, annoying and downright silly “Blair Witch” hype apparatus -– you remember, that shtick wherein the filmmakers talk about their faux documentary as if it’s the genuine article — blurring the line between fiction and reality, or somesuch.
But no one would fall for that stuff all over again, right? Hello, suckers.
Joe Berlinger, the hired-gun director of “Blair Witch 2,” which is now in production, has learned well from the original film’s creators. In an interview with “Entertainment Tonight” this week, Berlinger posed the question: “Does the Blair Witch really exist? … Maybe we should ask the town of Burkittsville [in Maryland, where “Blair Witch” takes place], who have really experienced these events over the years.”
Memo to Joe Berlinger: Um, maybe you should ask the residents of Burkittsville, that tiny town 60 miles north of Washington, D.C., which is best known for its collection of Civil War-era houses. Not for a witch. Maybe you should ask them about all the hooligans that have trekked into their little hamlet, pestering the locals.
Maybe you should listen to the local sheriff there, who told the Dallas Morning News last year, “The truth is there is no truth to it. The only truth is that there is a town called Burkittsville.” And maybe you should try coming up with an original idea. Sheesh.
Sigourney Weaver RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT … OR NOT! Rumors continue to circulate about another “Alien” movie, and a British reporter wisely asked Sigourney Weaver about that possibility this week, when the actress was doing publicity for the U.K. opening of “Galaxy Quest.”
“Well, you know, as far as I know, that’s it,” Weaver said on the BBC’s “Film 2000.” Weaver said she has heard of no rumblings at 20th Century Fox about a fifth “Alien,” but she didn’t rule out the possibility of returning to the series if asked.
“I’m astonished still by the amount of interest there is, and how popular the last one was. It was fun for me, because I got to play sort of devil Ripley, but I don’t know anything about [another sequel], I promise you.”
Based on the mediocrity of 1997’s “Alien: Resurrection,” perhaps it’s best to let sleeping extraterrestrials lie.
“STAR WARS” WATCH: Although the post-teen incarnation of Anakin Skywalker hasn’t been cast yet, there’s only two months to go before the filming of “Star Wars: Episode II” (which, as yet, has no “Phantom Menace“-type subtitle). The official “Star Wars” Web site (www.starwars.com) reports this week that filming locations have been scouted in Tunisia and Italy (in addition to Australia, which everyone already knows about), and construction of sets is well under way. Yipppeeee!
