Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead Trilogy remains one of the greatest sets of films in the horror/comedy genre. For a long time, there had been rumors of Raimi possibly returning to his roots for a fourth film in the franchise, but this will obviously be left on the back burner for even longer now with the development of the upcoming remake.
However, this has not prevented others from attempting to use the name of Evil Dead to further their own projects, which is exactly what happened with a production company called Awards Pictures.
According to The Film Stage, they planned to make a film called Evil Dead 4: Consequences, using the name of the popular series, despite being completely unauthorized and a clear violation of rights which are still in the possession of Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Robert Tapert’s Renaissance Pictures.
It didn’t take long for a lawsuit to be filed against Awards Pictures, claiming that they don’t have the rights. This, and the fact that they made no significant attempt to fight it, resulted in a judge preventing them from using the name.
However, now they’re trying to argue against it, with their best defense being that Raimi and co. have been inactive towards the franchise. If that’s the best excuse they have, then they can expect to lose the battle rather quickly, with rights most likely going to those behind the upcoming remake.
Speaking of the remake, I actually have some pretty high hopes for it. The original films will always be classics, but after getting a chance to read a draft of the screenplay last year, I’m thinking a remake could actually work.
It was extremely gory, gruesome, and disgusting. In short, it’s got everything you could want in an Evil Dead film. However, much of it will depend upon how well the makeup and creature effects are done, which are some of the main things that made the original films work as well as they did.
We’ll finally get our chance to see how the remake turns out when it hits theaters on April 12, 2013.
