Is Evil Dead Rise A Reboot Or Sequel?

Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead kicked off a beloved franchise, but is the upcoming Evil Dead Rise a reboot or a sequel within it? The original 1981 low-budget gorefest follows a group of five college kids as they venture into the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee to vacation in a small cabin far off the beaten path. There are already sinister forces at play in the cabin and surrounding woods before they arrive. Things are only made worse when the group plays a recording of demonic incantations and reads the Sumerian “Book of the Dead” they found in the basement, inadvertently unleashing evil.

Demons with a penchant for possession, called “Deadites,” quickly descend on them and nastily pick them off one by one. Though his fate appears grim at the film’s very end, it’s later revealed that only Ashley “Ash” Williams (Bruce Campbell) survives, and the final boy lives on to be the star of the now-iconic franchise. In the years since, the series has seen more movies, a TV show, and even video games. In 2013, Fede Alvarez came out with a soft reboot of the original, titled Evil Dead, from which Ash’s character was absent.

The next film in the universe, Evil Dead Rise, is set to start production this year, and it’s going to be a sequel to the original franchise. In May Variety confirmed its sequel status, reporting, “The next chapter in the saga builds off the original trilogy, rather than the 2013 reboot, and moves the action out of the woods and into the city.” The details of Evil Dead Rise‘s urban setting have been known since the project was first announced. Likewise, that Campbell will not be starring in the film, and that it will follow two new protagonists, though Campbell will serve as executive producer along with original trilogy director Sam Raimi and longtime producer Robert Tapert. However, the confirmation Evil Dead 4 will directly follow from the original trilogy rather than the reboot is new. The plot is set to follow two estranged sisters (played by Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan) as they take their turn fighting off the infamous Deadites that are so eager to wreak havoc and possess humans.

On one hand, Ash (along with his chainsaw hand) has become the face of the franchise. So, for fans of earlier installments, like the 1981 original, sequel Evil Dead 2, and third movie Army of Darkness, another modern release without him in it will be a bit of a loss. But after three movies, one TV spinoff, and countless appearances, Campbell has made it clear that his time as Ash has run its course. Even though he won’t be starring in the upcoming sequel, nor will Raimi be directing it, the film will still have those Evil Dead veterans, who love and have molded the franchise, behind the scenes.

Campbell is excited about the sequel. In a statement he gave at the time of the project’s official announcement, Campbell said, “At its core, ‘Evil Dead’ is about ordinary people overcoming extraordinarily terrifying situations. I can’t wait for Alyssa and Lily to fill the blood-soaked shoes of those who have come before them and carry on that tradition.” It’s looking like Evil Dead Rise will release sometime in the next year or two, and it’s set to follow the recent trend of feature films from Warner Bros. immediately making their way to HBO Max. Regardless of which characters are featured in the movie and what the setting will be for the demon-filled newest chapter, anything Evil Dead-related will surely attract a massive audience.

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Lindsey DeRoche
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Lindsey DeRoche is a TV and movie features writer for Screen Rant. She received a BA in English, with a concentration in writing, from Plymouth State University in 2018. She’s had a passion for reading, writing, TV, and movies since her early years.

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