Sit down and take a deep breath before reading this. It’s definitely enough to get some uber fans into a state of shock and possibly cause hyperventilation. While making the promotional rounds for his upcoming OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL, director Sam Raimi let slip two sentences that have the potential to ignite the whitle light of hope within many a fanboy’s heart:
I would love to make Evil Dead 4. My brother and I plan to work on the script this summer.
There’s no further elaboration, but it’s the first time the director has publicly commented on the state of a sequel moving forward to one of the most bad ass, highly quotable, and all-around genre-tastic movies of all time, ARMY OF DARKNESS. Now, that’s not to discount Raimi’s first to EVIL DEAD films, as both are outstanding, but there’s a special place for ARMY OF DARKNESS, as it took the character of Ash, played so masterfully by Bruce Campbell, and made him the star of the Deadite universe once and for all.
Raimi is likely speaking of his brother Ivan when he mentions working on the script with his “brother” who frequently collaborates with the director on his projects, including DRAG ME TO HELL and DARKMAN.
So, what does this mean with the upcoming reboot hitting in April? Well, without knowing much more for sure, it would seem that the two franchises would exist separate of one another. The reboot, directed by Fede Alvarez, already looks like a much darker take on the property, safely distancing itself from the inventive craziness that is Raimi’s EVIL DEAD. I have no problem with both franchises existing, especially if it means getting a sequel to ARMY OF DARKNESS.
If Raimi holds true to his word, then you can expect to hear more about this throughout the year. Let’s keep our chainsaws crossed that he jumps into this one next.
More as this develops.