As production continues on Evil Dead Rise in New Zealand, franchise star and executive producer Bruce Campbell has revealed some new details about New Line Cinema’s newest installment to Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead films, confirming that he won’t be reprising his iconic role as Ash Williams in the upcoming horror movie. This marks the first time that his character won’t be appearing in an Evil Dead film, following his surprise cameo in 2013’s Fede Alvarez-directed film.
Speaking with EW, Campbell also went on to tease that Evil Dead Rise will be entirely different from previous installments, revealing that it will mainly center around the infamous Necronomicon.
“People can actually call it what [they] want: Sequel, remake, reimagining. It really is just another Evil Dead movie,” Campbell said. “It’s book-centric. It’s all about [the Necronomicon]. Where does this book wind up and what happens to it over the millennia? In this case, it’s set in the city, it’s no more cabin in the woods. It’s entirely different, unsuspecting heroines who are going to save the day.”
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Evil Dead Rise is expected to tell a modern-day urban horror film that will take the franchise out of its classic woods setting and into the city for the first time. The next installment will tell the twisted tale of two estranged sisters, whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable. Campbell previously confirmed that the upcoming film wouldn’t have any ties to the previous films.
The film will be led by Alyssa Sutherland (Vikings) and Lily Sullivan (Picnic at Hanging Rock) along with Gabrielle Echols (Reminiscence), Morgan Davies (The Girlfriend Experience), and Nell Fisher (Northspur).
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Evil Dead Rise is being written and directed by The Hole In The Ground filmmaker Lee Cronin, who was handpicked by franchise creator Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Robert Tapert. Executive producers are Raimi, Campbell, Tapert, Romel Adam, John Keville, and Macdara Kelleher.
The fifth installment is set to be released on HBO Max in 2022.
