Original Evil Dead director Sam Raimi says a new movie in the classic horror franchise is being developed and the plan is for the project to have someone new in the director’s chair. Speaking with fans at New York Comic-Con while promoting the upcoming reboot of The Grudge, Raimi spoke about the current status of the Evil Dead series. “There’s more Evil Dead coming,” Raimi teased, stopping short of revealing any specific plot details. Raimi also told fans Bruce Campbell would be on board as a producer, but wouldn’t be starring in the movie as the actor is “tired of me throwing blood on him.”
Raimi’s horror franchise began with The Evil Dead in 1981. The classic horror movie starred Campbell as Ashley J. “Ash” Williams, a young man who travels to a remote cabin with his girlfriend and some pals and inadvertently conjures a demonic entity. The 1987 sequel Evil Dead II continues the story and is notable for featuring the iconic scene where Ash severs his right hand after it gets possessed. The second sequel Army of Darkness would cap off the trilogy in 1992, this time sending Ash back in time to take on an army of medieval Deadites. Altogether, the series launched the careers of both Raimi and Campbell while also forever making Ash one of horror’s most beloved heroes.
In 2015, the original Evil Dead movie series was revisited with the Starz TV series Ash vs Evil Dead. Featuring Campbell reprising the role of Ash, the show followed his modern adventures slaying Deadites with fellow “Ghostbeaters” Pablo Bolivar (Ray Santiago) and Kelly Maxwell (Dana DeLorenzo). The series was a big hit with fans of the original movies as well as with modern critics, boasting nearly perfect ratings for each season on Rotten Tomatoes. Ultimately, the network would cancel Ash vs Evil Dead after three seasons and 30 episodes, despite the best intentions of fans to keep it going with petitions and social media campaigns. Soon after, Campbell retired from playing Ash in any more live-action projects, though he continues to voice the character in video game appearances.
Related: Bruce Campbell Teases Evil Dead Announcement in September, Is Ash Returning?
The Evil Dead movie reboot from director Fede Alvarez has previously been confirmed to be a part of the same universe as the original movies from Raimi. Starring Jane Levy as new protagonist Mia Allen, the movie is a quality horror in its own right. Alvarez has previously suggested he’s open to making a sequel, but it’s not known if the next project Raimi has in mind will be a follow-up to the 2013 Evil Dead reboot. While Campbell’s decision to retire as Ash is understandable, some fans may still be holding out hope for the actor to step back into the role of the groovy one for one last ride, and it would certainly be awesome to see a potential crossover with Ash, Mia, and the Ghostbeaters all together in one movie.
With or without Ash, it seems to be a matter of time before we see another Evil Dead movie. Still, it remains impossible at this time to predict exactly when that might be. Let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later. This news comes to us from ComicBook.com.
