Just yesterday the remake of The Evil Dead, produced by Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, took a major step forward. It was officially announced that Shiloh Fernandez, best known for his role in last year's Red Riding Hood, had signed on to play the male lead in the film.The thing is, the real main character in the new movie isn't a man: it's a woman. Early in January it was reported that Lily Collins would be playing the title's true star, however, scheduling issues got in the way and she wasn't able to do it. Today they may have found her replacement.
According to Deadline, Jane Levy is now in talks to play the central heroine in The Evil Dead. While the actresses film experience is fairly limited - her first feature just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last week - she has been gaining steam on the small screen, doing a five episode stint as Mandy Milkovich on Showtime's Shameless and starring in the ABC comedy Suburgatory. She also recently completed work on the Halloween laugher Fun Size, which is due out later this October. The Evil Dead is being written and directed by Fede Alvarez (Diablo Cody did some work on the script as well), the script follows a group of young adults who take a trip into the woods to help their friend who has recently suffered a drug overdose. In the cabin they find The Book of the Dead and accidentally unleash an ancient evil into the forest. Should she sign on, Levy will play Mia, who is said to be the stand-in for Bruce Campbell's Ashley J. Williams in the remake.
While I haven't seen any of Levy's work, it does seem like her wheelhouse thus far in her career has been comedy, so this should be an interesting turn for her (though Raimi's original trilogy wasn't completely without laughs either). So what do you think of the casting? Are you happy Levy might play the lead in the remake? Do you at least think it's a better choice than Lily Collins? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
