This weekend, Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise hits theaters, and if the social media hype, reactions at various film festivals, and pre-release reviews (95% on Rotten Tomatoes) are to be believed, it’s gonna do very well at the box office, indeed.
Assuming that’s correct, and given the fact that it’s been a decade since the last time a new Evil Dead movie terrified theatrical audiences, there’s every reason to wonder where the franchise might go from here, and what producers Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and Bruce Campbell have planned. Lucky for us, a new interview with Campbell over at the AV Club may hold the answer.
Asked where the franchise is heading and, more specifically, if Campbell has any interest in seeing an Evil Dead movie that plays out on a much bigger, chaotic scale (imagine, a world overrun with Deadites!), the former franchise star says the following:
“The only problem with that is that it can get out of hand and if we jump into that world too quickly, it’s hard to get it back. I think the stories will progress a little more now. We’re going to try and do them more like every two or three years rather than every 10 years. It’s also the first time Sam is working with his brother Ivan to create an overall Bible that will give future writers and directors an idea of where this thing should go next to potentially tie in some of these stories. So I think it’s going to get a little more tied in as the years go by. But because it’s all about the books. It could be a book in the past, a book in the future. It’s yet to be determined.”
Now that’s what we wanna hear! The Raimi Bros. at work on a series Bible (read: a literal Book of the Dead). Less downtime between installments. The ability to jump between any time period they want thanks to those rascally/cursed books. The potential for some of these films to tie in with one another. Assuming Evil Dead Rise strikes gold at the box office, it sounds like we’ll have plenty to look forward to. It’s a great time to be an Evil Dead fan!
Stay tuned for more on the future of the Evil Dead franchise as further updates become available! Oh, and go see Evil Dead Rise in theaters this weekend if you know what’s good for ya.
