Sam Raimi Still Wants To Make Another 'Evil Dead,' With Or Without Bruce Campbell

You can't keep the Evil Dead franchise buried for long. After seeing a revival on TV with Ash vs. Evil Dead, which ran for three seasons on Starz through last year, original filmmaker Sam Raimi is ready to get back into the blood-soaked saddle with another Evil Dead sequel. And he wants his original star Bruce Campbell to reprise his iconic role as Ash Williams, despite the actor allegedly hanging up the chainsaw for good.

Evil Dead has gone through many incarnations — film, TV, video games, even comic books — but Raimi wants to bring the franchise back to the big screen. In an interview with Bloody Disgusting, Raimi revealed that there are discussions happening now for a new Evil Dead film, with or without Bruce Campbell:

"I'd love to make another one. I don't think TV is in its future but we're talking about – Bruce, Rob [Tapert] and myself – one or two different ways to go for the next movie. We'd like to make another Evil Dead feature and in fact we're working on some ideas right now."

However, Campbell had seemingly retired from the role following his starring in Ash vs. Evil Dead, which was a swan song of sorts for Ash Williams, the chainsaw-wielding protagonist of the Evil Dead franchise that Campbell had played for nigh on 40 years. Campbell hadn't ruled out future appearances for Ash Williams through mediums like video games or comics, but he seemed pretty resolute to not reprise the role onscreen again. Raimi would prefer to make the Evil Dead sequel with Campbell, but the actor's participation isn't the sole contributing factor to getting this movie made. Raimi teased that there's a chance for the next Evil Dead sequel to pick up the storyline from Fede Álvarez's 2013 remake/reboot of Evil Dead:

"I would be thrilled if Bruce Campbell changed his mind about retirement, would come back for the original 'Evil Dead' line. But if not, I'm very happy to work with, if Fede would come back and make the sequel... but he's such a big shot now. He's so successful, an artist in demand, that I don't think he'd want to do that."

And there's even a third option, Raimi said, in which both the remake and the original can co-exist in the same story. Think an Evil Dead cinematic universe. Raimi concluded, "So I think you may see some action on the Evil Dead movie in the next six months."