We found out just a few weeks ago that Sam Raimi has hand-picked THE HOLE IN THE GROUND director Lee Cronin to take the helm of a new film in the EVIL DEAD franchise. The news was broken to Empire by Bruce Campbell, who referred to the project as EVIL DEAD NOW at the time. Speaking to Diabolique, Campbell had a bit more to say about the new EVIL DEAD movie and even mentioned that it's not called EVIL DEAD NOW after all.
Campbell told Diabolique that the official title is EVIL DEAD RISE, and that Cronin is currently working on the script.
We’re getting a new draft in. I don’t think anything will happen until 2021. Full bore ahead, we’re very excited about it."
He didn't give away any plot details, but he did offer an intriguing tease that suggests Cronin won't be repeating the "people in a cabin getting attacked" set-up of Raimi's THE EVIL DEAD, EVIL DEAD II, and Fede Alvarez's EVIL DEAD 2013. (Not to mention certain episodes of the Ash vs. Evil Dead TV show.) Campbell said EVIL DEAD RISE is
a whole new ballgame. No more cabin in the woods."
So if the action isn't happening in the cabin, where will Cronin be taking the Deadites? We'll have to wait and see.
All we really know is that we shouldn't expect to see Campbell playing franchise hero Ash in the film, because he has said that he is retired from the role. He is still involved with the project because he holds the rights to the franchise, along with Raimi and producer Rob Tapert.