The next installment of the ‘Evil Dead’ Franchise hits theaters next month, but Bruce Campbell is already looking toward the future.
There are so many exciting horror franchises returning in 2023. This includes Evil Dead in the appropriately titled Evil Dead Rise. The film releases in theaters this April and will be another reinvention of the franchise. The one thing Rise won’t have is Bruce Campbell’s Ash Williams, as the actor has retired from the role given how physically demanding it became. However, that doesn’t rule out Campbell’s return in an animated capacity, and the actor has confirmed that an animated project is actively being pursued.
In an exclusive interview with Bloody Disgusting promoting Rise’s release, Campbell revealed, “All I can say is we’re actively pursuing it.” He would continue on discussing the franchise’s original director, Sam Raimi, and his role in the potential project: “Sam’s a busy guy. He had a big hit movie, so he’s got a lot on his plate, but he and his brother are actively shaping out the world. It’s one thing to get an animator and say, ‘Hey, animate this!’ You’ve got to know what you’re going to animate.” Campbell would finish off by joking,“I look forward to it, because my voice hasn’t aged as much as I have.”
The Legacy of Evil Dead
The Evil Dead was a 1981 campy horror nightmare with the simple premise of a group of ill-fated teens on a getaway at a seemingly harmless cabin in the woods. That’s where the Deadites and the modern Necronomicon were born. While unoriginal in its plot set up, Raimi’s unhinged direction and creative wit is what stole the show. Campbell’s killer commitment to the horror and practical effects/stunts only added to the franchise’s disturbingly fun allure. The series would come into its own with Evil Dead II, which took the franchise’s horror to new slapstick comedy heights, something the genre hadn’t really seen before when the sequel was released in 1987.
