Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

‘Blair Witch’ director is crowdfunding a docudrama about an alien encounter

An alien encounter doesn’t necessarily seem like something you would want to repeat, but a man named Carl Merryweather is trying to reunite with the “Skyman” he claims he met almost 30 years ago. The story captured the attention of Blair Witch Project director Dan Myrick and he made it his next project. The filmmaker has launched an Indiegogo campaign to crowdfund a docudrama film about what Merryweather finds.

Myrick describes the project as “a labor of love …  inspired by a fascination with UFO subculture.” He plans to make dramatized version of Merryweather’s journey back to the desert where he says he first met the alien he calls the Skyman. Based on the overview of the project on Indiegogo, the film, Skyman, will try to answer the question of whether Merryweather is a true “experiencer” or if he is “just another crackpot looking for fame and fortune.” Either way, it sounds like it could be interesting.

Recommended Videos

Myrick plans to make the film independently so that he doesn’t have to answer to a studio.

“Having worked in the Hollywood system for many years, I know all too well how an original concept can get quickly watered down in an effort to appeal to the masses,” he writes on the campaign’s Indiegogo page. “This film is a way for me to reconnect with my filmmaking roots and retain a level of creative control that would otherwise be impossible in today’s filmmaking environment.”

The Indiegogo campaign, which is live now, is seeking $25,000 to cover online casting, development, marketing, and more. Contributors have the option of giving as little as $5, which will earn them downloadable promo images and their name on the film’s website. On the other end of the spectrum, those who donate $5,000 will get an associate producer credit, a personalized director’s chair, dinner with Myrick, and more.

Stephanie Topacio Long
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Stephanie Topacio Long is a writer and editor whose writing interests range from business to books. She also contributes to…
Stranger Things’ Maya Hawke joins the next Hunger Games movie
Maya Hawke in Stranger Things.

Netflix's Stranger Things may be coming to an end this year, but Maya Hawke has already lined up her next franchise. The actress has been cast in a supporting role in the next Hunger Game movie, Sunrise on the Reaping.

Via Entertainment Weekly, Hawke will portray Wiress, the winner of the 49th Hunger Games who was previously portrayed by Amanda Plummer in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Sunrise on the Reaping takes place two decades prior to the films starring Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen. In the new film, Wiress is the mentor for District 12's tributes, including Haymitch Abernathy, the character played by Woody Harrelson in the original movies. Joseph Zada has already been cast as young Haymitch.

Read more
Game of Thrones prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms pushed back to 2026
A knight holds his sword as he walks down the street.

One of the ideas behind running two different Game of Thrones prequels at once was to keep the franchise alive on HBO and Max during the long breaks between seasons. However, the next prequel series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, will now be skipping 2025 altogether. And that may mean both House of the Dragon season 3 and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms could come out in the same year.

Via Variety, HBO confirmed the delay when it screened a trailer for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms during its upfront presentation. The trailer ended with a vague 2026 release window, but HBO CEO Casey Bloys suggested that it would be released in winter 2026. That would have it premiere on HBO and Max in either January or February 2026. HBO hasn't announced when House of the Dragon will return. But if season 3 doesn't premiere in 2026, then pushing it back to 2027 would mean a nearly three-year gap between seasons. House of the Dragon season 3 is currently in production.

Read more
Andor: Why the Disney+ show is a triumph of Star Wars’ flexibility
Diego Luna as Cassian Andor inside a ship in the Star Wars series Andor season 2.

Director Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story easily became the best Star Wars movie of the Disney era. Even so, few could have predicted that writer Tony Gilroy would also turn Rogue One into a launchpad for Andor, one of Star Wars’s best live-action productions in general. With Andor season 2 finished and the story of Diego Luna’s tragic hero, Cassian, concluded, the series cemented itself as another example of the galaxy far, far away’s creative versatility.

There is no question that Andor’s approach to realism is decidedly different than much of the franchise’s more operatic sci-fi adventures. While the Disney+ Star Wars series’ adherence to grit and realism might not strike a chord with fans who appreciate the franchise’s more fantastical side, it’s still a triumph for its image as a whole. Whether realistic or mystical, Andor shows across two seasons how this franchise’s sandbox rewards different sci-fi subgenres without losing its identity or needing a big legacy name to sell it.

Read more