Originally published March 3, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
When it was announced that Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and Bruce Campbell were to reboot the Evil Dead franchise with director Fede Alvarez’s forthcoming remake, it seemed that the curtain had fallen on a possible fourth instalment in the iconic horror franchise. However, speaking at a Meet the Filmmakers event on Friday to promote the release of his latest film Oz the Great and Powerful [read our review here], Raimi indicated that he “would love to make Evil Dead 4. My brother [Ivan Raimi] and I plan to work on the script this summer.” Naturally, the news that Raimi planned to give fans some sugar with a fourth Evil Dead movie sparked much excitement, but the director has now moved to play down the talk, claiming that he got caught up in the heat of the moment and felt he was “pushed into it” by the crowd.
“Those guys made me say that. I am thinking about it but a crowd goes ‘Come on Sam, do it!’ so I said ‘Okay, I guess I was talking to my brother about it.’ But I feel like I was pushed into saying that, a little bit,” Raimi told The Playlist. “In the hallway today I joked with Ivan ‘Get working on that script!’ but I really don’t know. I’m afraid that every time I talk about it people get really mad at me when I don’t follow through with it. I would like to work on the script over the summer, that much is true. But the reason to come back and do it again is only that they’re making me, those fans. I was saying to Ivan ‘Why do they stay on this thing? Why do they keep at it?’ and he said ‘They want to make a movie. You’re a filmmaker and your fans are asking you to make the movie. What are you, an idiot? Make the movie!’ I guess there’s something I don’t see. It makes sense when Ivan says it… but I didn’t have a tremendous amount of passion until right now to bring to it. I love working with Bruce Campbell and Rob Tapert, I have so much fun making those movies, so… but the fans are really forcing me into it.”
If we’re being honest, it doesn’t sound like Raimi is overly keen to bring Ash and his boomstick back to the screen for another outing, and let’s face it – it’s been 21 years since Army of Darkness, and Bruce Campbell ain’t getting any younger. If I had to guess, I’d say that sadly it looks as if the Evil Dead 4 ship has sailed…
