In the build-up to the release of Evil Dead Rise (read our review right HERE) last year, Evil Dead franchise rights holders Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Rob Tapert let it be known that they were already looking forward to producing more entries in the series, with Campbell revealing they were hoping to make a new sequel / spin-off every two or three years. It looks like they’re on track to do just that, as earlier this week it was announced that Sébastien Vaniček – who just made his feature directorial debut on the French horror film Vermin, a.k.a. Infested – has been hired to direct the next Evil Dead movie. Since Vermin happens to be nominated in two categories at this year’s César Awards, the website Konbini was able to catch up with Vaniček at a nominees’ dinner, and while talking with him they learned that he has complete creative control on his Evil Dead movie, and intends to give it a French twist.
Here’s what Vaniček had to say, translated from French: “After winning awards at festivals in the United States, Vermin did quite well in the studios. So we started getting requests for meetings, in lots of boxes. I did a lot of Zoom, and at one point I started getting Warner, then New Line, and Ghost House Pictures. Well, I quickly understood what the three had in common and quickly, I had an email from the producer who told me that Warner wanted to make a new 100% original Evil Dead, not related to the rest of the saga. We talked a lot, a lot, starting in November, and in particular with Sam Raimi. I had to go see them in the United States but we managed to impose some of our conditions. I particularly wanted to work with Flo [Vermin co-writer Florent Bernard], and we did fifteen pages with drawings and writing for our meetings. Sam Raimi and his team liked it. What’s crazy is that he guaranteed and protects us to give us 100% creative freedom. That’s all that mattered to me, to not get eaten up by a big studio and get released from the project. Sam Raimi is really the only producer in the United States who has control over his franchise. So when he tells me: ‘It’s your vision that takes precedence, I’m here to ensure it is preserved’, it’s reassuring. If all goes well, it will be a film with a French twist, with a central French character. I want to do my post-production in France with my teams. It will be in English, but with one or more French characters who speak English. I told the studio that I wanted to make a nasty film, a film that hurts, from which you come away tested. I’m going to put all the horror I have inside, it will be cathartic, and if I haven’t ruined my career and I can continue to make films beyond it, I will move on to something other than horror! In any case, this film will feel like France, I will never let go of this country, I intend to bring it with me. If all goes well, we could start filming at the end of 2024-beginning of 2025, for a release that I hope for Halloween 2025.“
Sam Raimi made his feature directorial debut with the original The Evil Dead, which introduced Campbell as iconic hero Ash Williams. Ash returned for Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness, and the Ash vs. Evil Dead TV series, with Raimi directing the films and the first episode of the show. After seeing a short film directed by Fede Alvarez, the Evil Dead rights holders gave him the chance to make his feature directorial debut with the Ash-less 2013 Evil Dead. Then Lee Cronin was hired to make the Ash-less Evil Dead Rise based on the strength of his own feature debut, the 2019 film The Hole in the Ground. So Sébastien Vaniček being hired to make the next Evil Dead movie right after entering the feature world with Vermin / Infested is very on brand for this franchise… and whatever the movie turns out to be, it sounds like it will be solidly Vaniček’s vision of the Evil Dead concept. And since he’s aiming to make “a nasty film, a film that hurts, from which you come away tested”, it sounds like one that will be right in line with The Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2013, and Evil Dead Rise.
Vermin / Infested shows viewers what happens when “residents of a rundown French apartment building battle against an army of deadly, rapidly reproducing spiders.” As Deadline noted, in addition to the César nominations, “the film won Best Picture and Best Director in its North American premiere at Fantastic Fest, and was also invited to the Sitges Film Festival, where it earned a nomination for Best Motion Picture and won a Special Jury Prize.” The Shudder streaming service has the distribution rights.
What do you think of what Sébastien Vaniček had to say about the Evil Dead movie he’ll be making? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.