July 16 will be the 10-year anniversary of a little movie called The Blair Witch Project. Perhaps you've heard of it? The film's spectacular journey from Sundance indie to mainstream phenomenon has become Hollywood legend, so much so that Roger Ebert named Blair Witch one of the 10 most influential films of the 20th century. The movie gave hope to young, broke filmmakers everywhere -- all you needed was the cost of tuition for one year at college, some cheap cameras, and a very, very, very clever idea.
Since Blair Witch made $249 million worldwide on its initial $20,000-$25,000 budget, others have tried to duplicate its unprecedented success, including none other than the film's own two directors, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. Still close friends, Dan and Ed went their separate ways after Blair Witch, each taking some time off before making a series of horror or supernatural flicks. Myrick directed Believers, Solstice, and The Objective; Sánchez helmed Altered and Seventh Moon. Haven't heard of those movies? Don't worry -- most of them went straight to DVD. But it can't be easy when your debut picture shatters records and is so convincing that some people, to this day, believe it's an actual documentary. How do you possibly follow that kind of once-in-a-lifetime anomaly?
EW talked to both of the Blair Witch directors individually, as well as the movie's three stars. To find out what has happened to those three young actors post-Blair, check out the new issue of EW, on newsstands July 10. But for now, enjoy this exclusive Q&A with directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, who discuss how they shot the groundbreaking movie, what they make of the subsequent backlash against it, and whether they'd ever want to return to Blair Witch.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I've heard so many different stories about how you guys went about filming Blair Witch. Could you clarify exactly what it was like shooting the movie?
EDUARDO SANCHEZ: When Dan and I wrote the script, it wasn't really a script. It was more like a glorified outline of all the scenes. We didn't have any dialogue because we knew we wanted to make it completely improv. And then we decided we were going to leave the actors out there and try to remote-control direct them. We developed this system where we would leave notes for them in these little 35mm film canisters, and the notes contained logistical information as far as where to hike, and what time to get to a certain spot that we had already entered into the actors' GPS units. We also provided character notes, like "Heather's driving me crazy" or "You've got to get away from Mike" or "Josh is slowly losing his mind." And then we let them do their own thing. We'd supply them with fresh tapes and batteries, and we would give them food. As they neared the end of the shoot, we started depriving them of food. By the last day, they were basically living off a banana and some juice.
Were the actors upset by the end of production?
SANCHEZ: No, they weren't. We took good care of them. Our producer, Gregg Hale, was in the Army and had Special Forces training, so he led the whole "keeping them safe" part and had escape routes from all of the locations. They had a walkie-talkie with them. If they needed anything, they could just call.
PETA has revealed to EW the winners of its Sexiest Vegetarians Poll: American Idol's Kellie Pickler and Heroes' Milo Ventimiglia. Runners up for the women's category included Robin Quivers, Ellen Degeneres, and Portia de Rossi, and on the men's side: Owain Yeoman, Horatio Sanz, Mark Ruffalo, and...wait for it...trust me, I'm not buying it either....Michael Ausiello. Look at him over there, gritting his teeth. He just can't stand it.
Yep. Despite repeated pleas to his fans to vote for him, EW.com's owndesperado TV scoopster is decidedly not the Sexiest Vegetarian -- not even in this office, if you ask me -- for about the sixth straight year. If you'll recall, this PopWatch "frenemy" once locked me in a closet but has recently atoned for that sin by buying me this mousepad of a buttery, syrupy waffle, which would honestly look much better topped with bacon bits. Better luck next year, loser.
This woman, apparently, can do no wrong. Even when she's saying the wrong stuff -- all that recent guff about Scarlett Johansson's big words, or being "ubersexual," or teasing creepy old dudes at Hollywood parties -- the Internet all but throbs in anticipation of her next splashy whatever. So, here you go -- the next splashy whatever:
As my colleague Mandi Bierly said, "the boob shot at :33 is quite special." What do y'all, think? Is her hotness of the can't-get-enough variety (and, if so, check out our exclusive photo gallery)? Or have you, actually, had enough?
Jane Krakowski's new "King Kong" webisode for Breyers -- a followup to her "Gone With the Wind" segment at smoothanddreamy.com -- is available exclusively on EW.com until Monday. It may as well have been Jane's 30 Rock character, Jenna, who inserted herself into King Kong's classic scenes, as she's really only conversing with her favorite person: herself. Mr. Kong definitely does not have a "swimmer's build" as advertised. Lying on his "dating profile"? That's a dealbreaker, ladies!
Sadly, neither Rhett Butler nor King Kong has proven to be smoother and dreamier than Jane Krakowski's lonely midnight snack. (Cue Liz Lemon: "Working on my night cheese...") The search is still on! Who should Jane film-stalk next? I'm thinking Malcolm McDowell's Alex in A Clockwork Orange. They can initially bond over their love of dairy...
Comic fans have a love-hate relationship with Kevin Smith. They love it when he bends his attention to writing comics, as he knows them as well as anyone, has a genuine love for them, and turns out damned interesting reads. They hate it because, on occasion, Smith has been known to let a deadline slip…sometimes for years.
But after his recent Batman miniseries, Cacophony, shipped on time -- much to the delight of both DC Comics and Bat-buffs everywhere -- Smith is climbing back into the saddle for two more comics projects. One is a new Batman miniseries called The Widening Gyre, in which Smith is also creating a new hero for the DC Universe, and the other is a Green Hornet miniseries for Dynamite Entertainment-- based on the screenplay he wrote back in 2004 for a scuttled GH film.
Beyonce will guest-star in four new episodes of Nick Jr.'s Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! starting Monday, April 27, and we have an exclusive clip! She's the blonde in the middle. Obviously. Awww, the usually unadorned Wubbzy got all blinged-out (blung?) to become the likely Jay-Z-inspired (just a hunch) "Wubb-Z." No one falls off a stage and into a heap of abandoned orchestra instruments better than Wubb-Z, y'all! Press play below.
Check out some new Tonight Show promos that have yet to air on NBC, with Tina Fey and Megan Mullally endorsing Conan O'Brien as a (possibly performance-enhancing) product, below. I'm digging the throwbacks to 30 Rock (when Liz alluded to an affair with Conan) and Will & Grace (when Mullally sang, way more wasted than she is here, atop a piano). I'm buyin' what they're sellin'. Are you? You have until June 1 to decide.
You can watch the "Get Some Conan" spots that have already aired -- with testimonials from Ice T, Nathan Lane, and others -- on NBC.com. (But beware! Old Navy Town Gown "Supermodelquins" alert! AGGGHHHH!)
To celebrate the March 17 premiere of their new web series, Rockville CA, creator Josh Schwartz (dashingly pictured) and music supervisor/Chop Shop Records founder Alexandra Patsavas threw themselves a SXSW day party on Saturday, and as is to be expected from such esteemed tastemakers, the lineup was excellent: perennially sunny popsters The Little Ones; sultry songstress Anya Marina, who brought a lovely cover of T.I.'s "Whatever You Like"; and the much-hyped stage antics of Janelle Monae, whose resemblance to one-half of "Mirror Image" from Sarah Jessica Parker's seminal 1985 dance masterpiece Girls Just Want To Have Fun I find somewhat distracting.
Beneath the trees of Austin's Brush Square park, and with the merry vibes of good music and good free Shiner swirling around us, I grabbed a couple minutes with Mr. Schwartz -- who would make a fun guest blogger, don't you think, PopWatchers? -- to talk Rockville, awesome bands, Chuck, potential impending maturity, and get one super!juicy!scoop!exclusive! on the Gossip Girl spinoff. Read on, after the jump!
That's only the teensiest tip of the iceberg of awesome music content that we'll be rolling out there in the coming weeks and months. The Music Mix is EW.com's new home for music coverage -- you'll find everything from exclusive streams and downloads to interviews to reviews and commentary, all from EW's crack staff of music-obsessed writers. We'll be ramping things way up with tons of on-the-scene reporting from the SXSW Music festival in Austin, Tex. later this week. And we're eager to hear what you think of all this. So check it out and let us know: What do you want to see on The Music Mix?
Omaha indie rockers Cursive will return on March 10 with Mama, I'm Swollen, their first full-length since 2006's widely praised Happy Hollow. According to the press release, Mama is "an album brimming with the universal, questioning the human condition, social morality, and the 'Peter Pan Syndrome' of grown men." It may also be brimming with melodic hooks and offbeat orchestration, if brand-new song "I Couldn't Love You" is any indication. And EW.com is currently the one and only place you can hear the track. Check it out below and let us know what you think.
Want to know the latest scoop on No Doubt's reunion? The only place you can find it right now is at a brand-new part of EW.com, 
Omaha indie rockers Cursive will return on March 10 with Mama, I'm Swollen, their first full-length since 2006's widely praised 
