With the impending arrival of the Fede Alvarez-directed Evil Dead reboot [read our ★★★★★ review here] there’s a renewed optimism that Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell might finally be ready to reunite for the long-rumoured Evil Dead 4. Raimi himself stoked the speculation earlier this month during a promotional interview for Oz the Great and Powerful when he stated that he planned to work on the script with his brother Ivan this summer before distancing himself from the comments a few days later, and now Bruce Campbell has weighed in on the possibility of Ash wielding his chainsaw and boom stick for a fourth instalment in the iconic horror-comedy franchise.
“The reception to this movie [Fede Alvarez’ remake] has been pretty good so far, so it encouraged Sam and I to go, ‘well crap, maybe we should dust the old chainsaw off’, “Campbell tells Empire Online. “If this movie helps us make another Army Of Darkness – Army Of Darkness 2 – then so be it. Evil Dead IV, Army Of Darkness 2… however you want to slice it, it’s random ideas in Sam’s head. Let’s not go crazy here. He’s just finished doing Oz, and he’s going to take some time off and he says he’s going to work on it this summer with his brother. He could be smoking cigars at a lakeside cabin for all I know, or he might actually be working, who knows?”
Campbell then went on to offer some thoughts on how he thinks Army of Darkness 2 could continue the storyline, suggesting it would pick up from the original post-apocalyptic ending of Army of Darkness, rather than theatrical ending which sees Ash returning to his own time before blowing away a Deadite in S-Mart: “I would think the post-Apocalyptic [ending] because it gives great possibilities for an Omega Man movie, and who he might be fighting against. It would be a very interesting world. But I’m fine either way… I’m sure Sam will concoct some ridiculous story and an outrageous journey, so I don’t really care where it starts and ends. The fun thing is working again with Sam Raimi. That’s the only reason to do these incredibly difficult movies than work for a guy who you really like working with and who you respect.”
Originally published March 29, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
