There's a new EVIL DEAD movie in the works, and we're going to be paying very close attention to this movie's process every step of the way. EVIL DEAD rights holders Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Rob Tapert are producing the film, which is going to be called EVIL DEAD RISE. Set to be written and directed by THE HOLE IN THE GROUND's Lee Cronin, this isn't going to be another EVIL DEAD movie that's set in a cabin in the woods, this one is moving the action into some sort of high-rise building.
Campbell has been good about giving updates on EVIL DEAD RISE while making appearances around the country, and he recently sat down for an interview with AL.com where he discussed the project some more. For the most part, he reiterated what we already know about the movie-to-be, but he did give a little more detail, and like I said, we're going to be paying close attention and going over every word that's said about this thing.
When AL.com asked him for a status update, 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 and we have a script written and a director picked. Sam Raimi hand-picked a guy named Lee Cronin, who's a very good Irish filmmaker. And it's got a very good modern tale. It's a modern day urban EVIL DEAD, it's called EVIL DEAD RISE. And we're hoping to do that next year."
Since Campbell was also a producer on Fede Alvarez's 2013 EVIL DEAD, he was asked, "What's the key to making a reboot effective?" His response:
Well, rebooting can be very confusing and frustrating and not always successful. Reboot, sequel, remake we have all these crazy terms. What we're doing now is we’re saying, "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. They're not fighting a scientist. They're not fighting anybody more than your average neighbor. This one is going to be a similar thing. We're going to have a heroine, a woman in charge, and she's going to try and save her family."
So the story centers on a woman trying to save her family from Deadites in a high-rise building. Sounds interesting to me, and this will definitely be something new for the EVIL DEAD franchise.
Cronin has promised that EVIL DEAD RISE is going to be "a rollercoaster of terror".