Filming of sequel to Wilcox County Bigfoot movie is '50 percent done'

The 50^th anniversary of the original filming of the world-famous Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film was a few weeks ago, and some of you may have seen articles about it recently due to the anniversary. For those of you unfamiliar with this short movie, it was filmed by Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin on Oct. 20, 1967 near Bluff Creek in Northern California. It’s arguably the most famous piece of Bigfoot footage ever filmed, and just about everyone in the world has seen this controversial film at some point in their lives.

This significant anniversary in “Bigfoot history” flung a craving on me to re-watch the most famous Bigfoot movie in Wilcox County history, “Hunting the Legend,” which is set almost entirely in Wilcox County. Released in July 2014, this fictional Bigfoot movie is supposedly based on video footage found by Wilcox County Sheriff’s deputies on Jan. 13, 2013. This footage shows five Bigfoot hunters, all in their early twenties, trying to capture evidence of Bigfoot as part of a film project called “Hunting the Legend.”

Lead Bigfoot researcher Chris Copeland explains in the movie that he chose Wilcox County for his film because it’s supposedly where most Bigfoot sightings occur in Alabama, and it’s also where his father was supposedly killed by a Bigfoot while deer hunting on Jan. 4, 2008. Early on, the movie shows fictional Wilcox County Sheriff’s Deputy Pinkerton and a 15-year-old Copeland arriving at the scene of his father’s disappearance to find his father’s hunting rifle, lots of blood on the ground and a massive footprint. A search is launched, but Copeland’s father is never found.

Fast forward five years to January 2013 when Copeland and his friends take to the Wilcox County woods to get evidence of Bigfoot and to allow Copeland to revenge his father’s death. Others in Copeland’s group include his best friend Jeff Causey, his girlfriend Hannah Wallace, camera operator Justin Steeley (the movie’s real-life director), sound guy Alex Ballew and a trained female German Shepherd dog named “Scout.”

The actual “Bigfoot hunt” portion of the movie supposedly takes place between Jan. 5, 2013 and Jan. 9, 2013. During that time, the group not only talks to police and other witnesses, but they also examine a plaster cast of a large Bigfoot track, find a Bigfoot “shelter,” have some of their camera equipment destroyed, find three skinned rabbits hanging in trees and capture creepy footage of a late-night visitor to their camp. I hesitate to say much more because I don’t want to ruin the ending for anyone who hasn’t seen the entire movie.

Around this time of year last year, many of you will remember reading in The Progressive Era that filming was underway on a sequel to “Hunting the Legend” called “Hunting the Legend: Part II.” As with the first movie, the sequel is also set in Wilcox County and portions of it are also being filmed in Wilcox County. A few days ago, I touched base with the director of both movies, Justin Steeley, to get an update on the sequel and to see if a release date had been set.

Steeley reported that they are “exactly 50 percent done with filming” and noted that the film crew took the summer off because the film is set in the winter. Steeley and other producers also plan to use the footage they already have, edit together a teaser and place it on the fundraising website, Kickstarter, in an attempt to secure enough funds to finish the second half of the movie. He also reported that they have all the material they need to build the Bigfoot suit for the movie, but haven’t found a seamstress who feels qualified to assemble the suit. Steeley hopes to resume production of the film very soon, he said.

In the end, I’d still very much like to hear from anyone in the reading audience who has seen a real-life Bigfoot or anything else out of the ordinary in the woods of Wilcox County, including panthers and other strange animals. If you’ve seen or heard anything strange in the woods, including unusual tracks, tree breaks, structures or sounds, please let me know.