Yet Another Evil Dead Movie Finds A Director As The Horror Franchise Keeps Growing
"Evil Dead" fans had to wait a full decade between movies following the release of Fede Álvarez's 2013 entry in the long-running horror franchise. It seems the powers that be have no interest in making anyone wait that long again. To that end, we've learned that Francis Galluppi ("The Last Stop in Yuma County") has been tapped to write and direct a new movie set within the universe of Sam Raimi's original 1981 horror classic.
According to Deadline, Galluppi developed the idea and brought it to Raimi's team. They sparked to it and now it's officially in the works. No plot details have been revealed but it is described as an original story set within the "Evil Dead" universe. There's also no word yet on casting or anything like that — meaning, it's unclear if any familiar characters will be included in this new installment. Rami had this to say about it:
"Francis Galluppi is a storyteller who knows when to keep us waiting in simmering tension and when to hit us with explosive violence. He is a director that shows uncommon control in his feature debut."
Amazingly, this is one of two different movies set within the franchise being developed at the moment. Sébastien Vaniček ("Infested") was also revealed to be working on an "Evil Dead" spin-off back in February. Galluppi's movie didn't replace that one. Rather, it seems they're both being developed concurrently. As Ash Williams might say, groovy.
The Evil Dead property is expanding
Galluppi is a relative newcomer, with the crime thriller "The Last Stop in Yuma County" serving as his feature directorial debut. (It is due to be released later this year.) Raimi, who most recently directed "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" for Marvel Studios, is too busy to helm a new movie in the franchise he started all those years ago with Bruce Campbell and Rob Tapert. Instead, he seems interested in using it as a vehicle to give younger filmmakers a chance to display their talents.
Such was the case with last year's "Evil Dead Rise." Directed by Lee Cronin, who had previously helmed the low-budget "The Hole in the Ground," the film was a huge success, taking in $146 million at the box office and becoming one of the year's big surprises. That, it appears, has opened the door for more. Whether or not Warner Bros. is involved in either of these two new films coming down the pipeline remains to be seen, but the studio would probably like a first bite at the apple given how well things went last time around.
The franchise currently includes five films: 1981's "The Evil Dead," 1987's "Evil Dead II," 1992's "Army of Darkness," 2013's "Evil Dead," and the aforementioned "Evil Dead Rise." There was also the relatively short-lived but much-beloved TV series "Ash vs. Evil Dead," which was the last time we saw Bruce Campbell suiting up as Ash Williams. Campbell said last year that an "Evil Dead" animated series is also in the works, but we haven't heard much of anything official on that front since then.
The new "Evil Dead" movie does not currently have a release date.