In the build-up to the release of Evil Dead Rise last year, the Evil Dead franchise rights holders Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Rob Tapert let it be known that they’re planning to boost this franchise in a major way, making a new sequel every two or three years. They’re staying on track for that, as it has already been announced this year that Sébastien Vaniček will be writing and directing one new Evil Dead movie while Francis Galluppi writes and directs another – and the filmmakers are given creative control over their additions to the series. Raimi also wants to make another Evil Dead movie with Campbell in the lead as franchise hero Ash, but Campbell insists that he’s retired from the role… when it comes to live-action, anyway. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Campbell confirmed that two new movies are coming our way, and that he’s also planning to voice Ash in an Evil Dead animated series!
When asked about the future of the Evil Dead franchise, Campbell told EW, “The future is two more damn movies. We’ve got two new fabulous directors that have two new scripts in the shoot, and we think we’ve suckered a studio into coughing up the dough for both, since they seem to still make money. The funny thing is, the Evil Dead movies, the last one made $140 million, and the Evil Dead movies don’t usually make that much money. They’re cheap, so they don’t have to make that much — but now that they’re making real money, it’s kinda hard to look away. And we want to do it — the last one was 10 years ago, Fede [Álvarez’s reboot] was 2013! So we want to get a little more of a pipeline for folks who still follow it, who want to see it. They want to see it in the new incarnation! We’re out of the cabin, Sam [Raimi] doesn’t have to direct, I don’t have to star as Ash. The trick is to take the elements that people like, which is innocent people being tortured by a malicious entity, and it’s people who have no skills to stop it.“
As for his future as Ash, “We are developing an animated version, like a series. I’ll do that. I’ll do Ash’s voice all day long, because my voice hasn’t aged as much as I have.”
The animated series has been in development for a while, with Campbell having said that they were “actively pursuing” the idea back in March of last year. He has also hinted that it could pick right up from the futuristic ending of the Ash vs. Evil Dead TV series.
What do you think of the future of the Evil Dead franchise? Are you looking forward to the two movies and/or the animated series? Let us know by leaving a comment below.