Evil Dead Rise Just Hit A Major Production Milestone

There's no telling which direction the "Evil Dead" franchise will go, which is why the upcoming sequel, "Evil Dead Rise," is exciting for horror fans. The first film, released in 1981 and starring Bruce Campbell, is a horrific affair with moments of black comedy peppered throughout. "Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn, embraces its predecessor's comedic inclinations. The feature operates as a "Three Stooges"-esque yarn but with more gore and demon-possessed household appliances. In "Army of Darkness," director Sam Raimi opted for a medieval adventure in the vein of movies like "Jason and the Argonauts." In 2015, the franchise made its only foray into television with the AMC television series "Ash vs. Evil Dead," also starring Campbell (via IMDb).

"Evil Dead Rise" promises to be another change of pace for the saga. Much like Fede Alvarez's 2013 sequel-slash-reboot, the newest flick will feature a brand new lead now that Campbell's decades-long run as Ash is over. Per the movie's IMDb profile, Lily Sullivan ("Barkskins") and Alyssa Sutherland ("Vikings") have been tasked with stopping the Deadites' reign of terror this time around, and the action is set to take place in an urban setting.

The new movie can't come soon enough, and impatient fans will be pleased to know that director Lee Cronin has shared some great news about the film's production.

"Evil Dead" movies are never a sure thing. As Film School Rejects details, the long-awaited sequel in the original franchise timeline has languished in development hell for years, with the filmmakers pondering all kinds of wacky ideas. In short, fans will only believe that a new "Evil Dead" movie is happening when there's substantial proof to back it up. With that in mind, the latest update from "Evil Dead Rise" camp will come with a sigh of relief.

Lee Cronin took to his Twitter account in the wee hours of Tuesday, October 26, to share the news fans have longed to hear: Filming on "Evil Dead Rise" has wrapped. The director and writer of the new horror movie captioned a series of (fake) bloody behind-the-scenes photos with the following: "8 months, 1 Covid Lockdown, 6,500 liters of blood, and more memories than my brain can even process. That is a wrap on #EvilDeadRise. Thank you, New Zealand. It's been a blast. Time to head home and cut this beast together."

It's probably safe to assume that "Evil Dead Rise" will be another gore-drenched offering. According to a March story from The Hollywood Reporter, "Evil Dead" fans will be able to see the Cronin-helmed movie on HBO Max.