Although writer/director Lee Cronin’s contribution to the Evil Dead franchise, Evil Dead Rise, is far enough along that it has already received an R rating (for strong bloody horror violence and gore, and some language), a release date still hasn’t been announced. All we know is that the film is expected to be released through the HBO Max streaming service sometime this year. While we wait to hear when we’ll have the chance to see Evil Dead Rise, the franchise’s creator Sam Raimi took a moment during the press tour he’s doing for his new movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to promise that Cronin’s film will knock our socks off.
Speaking with /Film, Raimi said,
I’ve seen a rough cut [of ‘Evil Dead Rise‘], a medium fine cut, and a fine cut. There’s probably a few changes that Lee Cronin is making that I haven’t seen, but it’s great. It’s terrifying and it’s going to knock people’s socks off.”
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Raimi handpicked Cronin to make Evil Dead Rise after watching his feature directorial debut The Hole in the Ground (watch it HERE), and he explained how that happened:
He had always liked ‘Evil Dead,’ and I loved ‘The Hole in the Ground.’ And that picture was brought to the executives that I work with and they showed it to me and I thought, this is really a great director. And we met and we talked and he said he really liked ‘The Evil Dead.’ And I said, then why don’t you make the new one? I think you’re just the kind [of] guy I’d like to do it. He said, great. Let’s go. We put together a script and we gave notes and he made some changes and then we raised money for the movie and he went down to New Zealand to shoot it with my partner, Rob Tapert. Now Bruce Campbell is working with him in post production sound.”
Although filming took place in New Zealand, the story of Evil Dead Rise is set in Los Angeles. The synopsis:
A road-weary Beth pays an overdue visit to her older sister Ellie, who is raising three kids on her own in a cramped L.A apartment. The sisters’ reunion is cut short by the discovery of a mysterious book deep in the bowels of Ellie’s building, giving rise to flesh-possessing demons, and thrusting Beth into a primal battle for survival as she is faced with the most nightmarish version of motherhood imaginable.
Lily Sullivan and Alyssa Sutherland star as the estranged sisters at the heart of the story. Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies, and Nell Fisher play Ellie’s three kids. Mia Challis is playing Jessica, “an 18 year old girl, who is obsessed with fashion and Instagram. Jessica loves to be the center of attention, although she is smarter than she lets on”.
Campbell does not appear in the movie, as he has formally retired from playing the role of franchise hero Ash.
Evil Dead Rise is a collaboration between Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, and Ghost House Pictures.
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