Horror and B-movie star emeritus Bruce Campbell has been dropping some new information recently about the prospect of the next film in the Evil Dead franchise, seeming to suggest that the movie would be more or less unrelated to the 2013 soft reboot of the series, also titled Evil Dead, that was directed by Fede Álvarez. That means leaving behind Mia, the heroine established in that film, to tell a story revolving around a new character. The upcoming film is currently titled Evil Dead Rise, and Campbell (as producer) suggests the movie would begin shooting in 2021.
“Planning to shoot the next Evil Dead movie in New Zealand later this year,” Campbell said to Knox News. ”[It’s] set in a modern-day urban setting. It’s out of the woods.”
That’s an interesting departure for the series, which has always revolved around the classic “cabin in the woods” setting, but perhaps necessary in order to give Evil Dead some new life. Campbell’s iconic character of Ash Williams has already been on plenty of other adventures in other media, such as comics and the TV series Ash vs. Evil Dead, so there’s no reason Evil Dead Rise can’t finally ditch the cabin as well. The film will be directed by Irish newcomer Lee Cronin, who brought us 2019’s well regarded The Hole in the Ground.
The 2013 version of Evil Dead was a modernized partial retread of the original story, in the cabin setting, and introduced Mia, a drug-addicted woman undergoing an intervention who then becomes host to a demonic entity. Eventually, she battles free of her possession and takes on the reins of demon slayer. Campbell has previously suggested, though, that Evil Dead Rise would be seeking a new female star instead
“We’re going to have a heroine, a woman in charge, and she’s going to try and save her family,” Campbell said. “We’re honing-in, circling the building now trying to lock in a partner. We have a couple of bidders and we’re trying to just find the correct suitor… Look, this is another Evil Dead movie and that book gets around, a lot of people run into it and it’s another story. The main key with Evil Dead is they’re just regular people who are battling what seems to be a very unstoppable evil, and so that’s where the horror comes from. It’s not someone who’s skilled. They’re not fighting a soldier. [Or] a scientist. They’re not fighting anybody more than your average neighbor. This one is going to be a similar thing.”
We’ll bring you more info on this next chapter in the Evil Dead saga as it arrives.