By UPDATE: Bloody Disgusting are reporting that Uruguayan director Fede Alvarez is being lined up to direct the remake of the original Evil Dead. Alvarez has only directed short films to date, having been recruited by Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures production company after his short Ataque de pánico! (Panic Attack) drew significant internet attention. Raimi will produce and although there’s no word on whether Bruce Campbell will have a starring role, it’s a solid bet that he’s involved in some capacity given his previous comments on the movie’s status.
Given how the Evil Dead trilogy is one of humankind’s greatest achievements and Bruce Campbell a hero for the ages, rumours of a fourth entry in the series just won’t stay dead. Fan interest was reignited in 2009 when director Sam Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell seemed to mark a return to his comic horror roots, and earlier this year producer Rob Tapert stated that plans for a remake of the first movie were ongoing. Bruce Campbell reiterated those intentions in April on Reddit, and now Dread Central are claiming that Army of Darkness editor Bob Murawski is on the way to Detroit to start work on a brand new entry in the franchise.
When asked for confirmation by a fan on Twitter, Bruce Campbell (@GroovyBruce) replied: “Believe in the remake, dawg! The project is real. In the works. Cool as hell. Scary as hell.” Although Dread Central suggested that Murawski was heading out to work on a brand new movie, a “small indie thing like the first two”, it seems more likely to me that their source is telling them about the remake, rather than a real Evil Dead IV. I can’t see any reason for two projects in the same series to be in production at once, from a business or creative perspective. It certainly seems as though a remake of the original could be on the way, though I personally won’t be holding my breath for any genuinely new entries in the series for a while. Still, even a glimmer of hope is just (yes) groovy.
[via Dread Central]