Lee Cronin, director of Evil Dead Rise, has addressed the potential for sequels to his critically and commercially successful sequel to Sam Raimi’s iconic trilogy.
In an interview with ScreenRant, the director spoke about all the possible new directions the saga could go now that Evil Dead Rise has opened the door. Cronin confirmed that the latest film had impressed the right people, and sequels were indeed on the table. However, they aren’t looking to rush for the sake of it, which is honestly good to hear.
“I think it’s important that you don’t just absolutely try and rinse something out immediately. It’s something that’s always been under discussion, because there’s fun to that, as we were talking and developing the movie, Rob Tapert, who would have been on set when I was shooting, we’d often talk about some different ideas in terms of what can actually take place.”
The filmmaker also spoke on the possibility of returning to the franchise. Whilst he is clearly still greatly involved in the creative direction, Cronin also felt pretty confident that he’d opened the door for other directors to jump on board and take Evil Dead down some bold new avenues.
“I think one of the things I’ve maybe done with Evil Dead Rise, though, as well is open it up further, potentially, to other voices to come in. I think I broke the universe open a little wider than maybe it’s been before, and I think there’s a lot of potential there, especially now clarifying that existence of three books. That’s not just a fun moment in Army of Darkness, it’s actually part of the lore, it’s now part of the mythos, and starts to broaden the canon as such.”
Among the possibilities for sequels, fans are hopeful to see the return of Ash Williams in some form. After all, Bruce Campbell did have a small cameo in the latest as a voice on the old recording, which many have speculated is a time displaced Ash. However, Campbell has squashed hopes of returning as the character, with him being more interested in an Ash Vs. Evil Dead animated series (the original show was notoriously canceled before it could finish its run), although he likely would return if Sam Raimi did.
Other ideas that have been brought up include a sequel focusing on Kassie and Beth after the events of Rise. There’s also the option of returning to the woods, as the beginning of the latest chapter did tease. Or they could continue to explore fresh ideas, one of which has fans particularly excited. It involves the Book of the Dead and a priest fighting off a horde of the undead, like a Halloween John Wick. The pitch sounds more akin to the campy silliness of the Raimi films, and is the exact kind of thing supporters of the franchise would love.