As sure as Ash has a loaded boomstick at the ready and the Necronomicon is bound in rotted flesh, the Evil Dead franchise is still being touted as returning in some way shape or form. With The Grudge in theaters this weekend, and producer Sam Raimi making the rounds to promote the film, it feels like a good time to get an update on the series creator’s intentions for his sainted creation.
Naturally, things haven’t changed all that much since the last time we heard from Mr. Raimi, as he still wants to do another dance with the Deadites, whether or not Bruce Campbell’s Ash will return or not. In a recent online Q&A, those intentions were laid out with these specific caveats:
Bruce, Rob [Tapert] and I are working with a young filmmaker who is writing a new Evil Dead story that he will direct. As for me…. I would love to direct a new Evil Dead movie… but I’d really like to do it with Bruce. And he says he’s retired the character. I hope not.
Previously on Hollywood vs. The Evil Dead, Sam Raimi had used his spot on the Crawl press tour to talk up the fact that there were a couple of directions that the franchise he built with producer Rob Tapert and actor Bruce Campbell could go. No specifics were mentioned, but as always, Raimi was open to anything, and Campbell was listed as a party interested in where things were going.
Flash forward to a couple of months ago, and Bruce Campbell stated how a new team was selected to refresh the Evil Dead saga for a new era of horror-comedy goodness, namely a filmmaker who Sam Raimi had chosen himself. Campbell also gave a promise of new actors that “don’t completely suck” also being on the horizon.
Which brings us to Sam Raimi’s reassurance through a recent AMA on Reddit that whether Bruce Campbell budges from his promise of retirement or not, the Evil Dead will return! However, if you were hoping Raimi would return to the director’s chair himself in the world he made famous, it sounds like Bruce Campbell’s return would be the sticking point for his participation.
But as everyone knows, save for a random appearance in character for the video game Dead By Daylight, Bruce Campbell has sworn he’s retired from playing Ashley “Ash” Williams since the Starz TV show Ash vs. The Evil Dead went off the air in 2018. And with his insistence that a younger actor take over the role, it sounds like a lot of budging will have to be applied to this titan of terror defense to make him change his mind.
At the very least, another new entry in the Evil Dead franchise will be happening, with fresh blood flowing freely in the creative landscape of the storied series. While it may not be the Raimi/Campbell team-up folks have been hoping for, there’s always the chance that this is a stealth sequel to writer/director Fede Alvarez’s previous reboot. But that’s another chain of bloody wishes to talk about for another day.
Since there’s no timetable on this new Evil Dead project, you can always support the home team at Ghost House Productions by seeing The Grudge, which is in theaters now. Or, if you’ve caught wind of the reviews surrounding that particular film and want to see something else, try looking at our 2020 release schedule to see if anything else catches your fancy.
