When the Fede Alvarez-helmed reboot of Sam Raimi’s beloved 1981 cult horror classic, Evil Dead, was first announced, many fans were awash with apprehension, and understandably so. However, when the 2013 remake, currently sitting at 62% on Rotten Tomatoes, actually came out, it left a lot of people pleasantly surprised. In fact, it actually had folks calling for a sequel.
With tons of gore and a steady stream of violence, albeit without the trademark humor and obscurity, the reimagining, although nowhere near as good as the original flick, was still able to give us a respectable amount of dread and stomach-churning viscera much in the same vein that made the 1981 movie such a hit.
And now, with Ash vs. Evil Dead officially cancelled and Bruce Campbell retired from the titular role, it seems like the perfect time to bring us an Evil Dead 2. Unfortunately, though, it doesn’t look like things are moving very quickly on that front. Speaking in a recent interview, Alvarez noted that while he does have ideas for the project, there’s no script in place just yet.
“I’ve learned to shut my mouth when it comes to these things. It tends to turn into headlines. We just never want to play with anyone’s expectations. When I tweeted that I was interested in seeing what people prefer. We were having some internal debates about what people would be interested in most. Unfortunately, Evil Dead 2 won. Which, I guess I would have preferred Don’t Breathe 2 to win because it’s one of my own creations. Obviously Evil Dead has the bigger following. So that’s what happened.”
“It doesn’t mean that we won’t make them. And that I make them might not be that I’m directing, but I might be producing. They’re just ideas right now. Nothing to announce officially. We do have a script for Don’t Breathe 2. That’s the only difference. We don’t have a script for Evil Dead 2. But we do have a script for Don’t Breathe 2 that we wrote.”
“Once I’m done with [The Girl in the Spider’s Web] we’re gonna start thinking of ways to bring that story to the screen. Me directing or me producing. It really depends on the time that we’ll have. I’m particularly excited about that because it’s a really different sequel, when it comes to sequels. It’s a very different approach and I’m excited about that.”
At this point, it’s hard to say where the beloved franchise will go from here, but it’s clear that there’s still a lot of interest in the property. As such, we imagine that something’s being planned and whether that’s Evil Dead 2 or another project, don’t think you’ve seen the last of this world.
In the meantime, while we impatiently wait for the Uruguayan filmmaker to get the ball rolling on a proper sequel, next up for Fede Alvarez is The Girl in the Spider’s Web, starring Claire Foy (The Crown). And maybe after that hits theaters on November 9th, the director will turn his attention to Evil Dead 2.
