Sam Raimi Wants to Direct A New Evil Dead With Bruce Campbell

During an “Ask Me Anything” session on Reddit to promote the release of The Grudge, Sam Raimi said that he would like to direct one last Evil Dead movie, but only if Bruce Campbell returns as Ash. Campbell previously retired the character after Starz cancelled Ash vs. Evil Dead in 2018. Here are highlights:

On a new Evil Dead movie: “Bruce, Rob and I are working with a young filmmaker who is writing a new Evil Dead story that he will direct. As for me…. I would love to direct a new Evil Dead movie… but I’d really like to do it with Bruce. And he says he’s retired the character. I hope not.”

On a sequel to the 2013 remake by Fede Alvarez: “If Fede would write or direct it, yes, in a split second!”

On his expectations for the original Evil Dead: “Never thought of the movie like that. Bruce, Rob and I were just trying to break into the business. Trying as hard as we could to make a movie good enough to play in the Drive In’s. We were thrilled when it did. Never had any expectations beyond that. Horror movies were not even a thing that you would consider to be highly praised, unless you were talking about the Cabinet of Doctor Caligari or Frankenstein. Those were very rare. I never considered it as anything other than it was. A good drive in flick. I’m surprised it’s lasted this long.”

On if his time as a producer has taught him anything new: “I loved working with Fede Alvarez. He’s kind and smart. he’s a great story teller. And Nick was also excellent on Grudge. Yes, I learn new tricks and tips all the time – mostly from watching their dalies and listening to them direct the actors…. or having read their scripts…. I learned how they improved the scenes on the set by working with their different department heads. I watch as these directors improved their original visions by taking in the ideas of crew members and collaborators.”

On the transition to superhero films with Spider-Man: “It was not really the change of genre that frightened me. It was the enormous task of meeting millions of Spider-man fan’s expectations which was so daunting. I tried to solve this problem by remembering what made Stan Lee’s comic books so special to me and by putting as much of that feeling as I could into the movies.”