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Lee Cronin Teases Plans For Evil Dead Rise, Talks Leaving Typical Franchise Setting

October 1, 2020 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Evil Dead Remake Evil Dead Rise Image Credit: Sony Pictures

Lee Cronin is set to direct Evil Dead Rise, the next film in the franchise, and talked about about his plans for the film in a new interview. Croning spoke with Bloody Disgusting’s The Boo Crew Podcast about the film and while there wasn’t a lot he could say, he did talk about how he got the job and what he’s planning to do with the movie. You can check out highlights below:

On how he got involved with the franchise: “I’m a fan and a filmmaker, so I have two jobs to do, really, with making the film. The journey kinda started post-Sundance, early 2019. A really important member of Sam’s creative team had seen The Hole in the Ground and said ‘Sam, you’ve gotta watch this.’ So, I had flown into the US for three weeks. My last meeting leaving town was with Sam. And a couple of his development people. He’s exactly how you want him to be as a person; he’s fun and he’s engaging. I remember sitting there and I hadn’t dared raise really much about Evil Dead at all, and then I did towards the end of it. I said, ‘Do you want to do anything else with Evil Dead?’ And he said ‘Absolutely.’ He goes, ‘Do you know any young, eager filmmakers that would be interested?’ And I said ‘Well, I’m flattered that you’re calling me young, Sam.’ And then it just became this very organic process.”

On his plans for the film: “I can’t say too much about it, but what I couldn’t do was just go back and try and emulate what’s been done before. I needed to find my own way into the story, which took a little bit of time. And to choose a course and a direction that would deliver absolutely for the fans. In spades. Ya know, what people would want from an Evil Dead movie. But that also has my identity, and offers something of an expansion to the world that we’re used to and hopefully draws in a new audience. So that process of finding what that could be took a number of months. I really hope I don’t mess it up. But I’m confident I’m going to do something that’s both familiar and refreshing. I’m gonna deliver a rollercoaster of horror. That’s what the goal is here. Relentless. Not stopping to explain too much. It needs to be extremely visceral, highly entertaining, properly scary. To push boundaries, that’s important as well.”

On the film moving outside the traditional setting: “It takes us to backdrops we haven’t necessarily experienced the Deadites in before, certainly in the film universe. And it also brings a set of characters you don’t expect to see interacting with the Deadites. Which I think is gonna put people on edge quite quickly in the story.”