Posted in: HBO, Movies, Streaming | Tagged: bruce campbell, evil dead, evil dead rise, hbo max, lee cronin
Evil Dead Rise: EP Bruce Campbell on How Sequel is Different
With Evil Dead franchise star Bruce Campbell performing a more behind-the-scenes role as an executive producer for the upcoming Lee Cronin sequel Evil Dead Rise as he did the Fede Alvarez reboot, the actor provided a comprehensive update on production, including some details of the plot. Speaking with the German site BlairWitch.de (via Joblo), Campbell opened up about the film's rough cut.
"We've seen a rough of it already, and it has all the components we need," Campbell said. "Like anything, when you see a rough version, it just has to be tightened, but we're good. We're in good shape." Rather than confining the Necronomicon to a cabin, the actor revealed a different path the book will take. "This one's dark, this one's pretty serious," he explained. "Good, strong performances. It's a single mom who now has to deal with this book. These days it's more about the book. That book gets around, that book is handed around, passed along, people try and get rid of it, they try to bury it or destroy it, and they really can't. So this book just keeps popping up, so really it's just another story of what happens if this book appears in this particular group of people's lives and how it intersects."
Campbell shares EP duties along with original Evil Dead franchise director Sam Raimi having worked together since the 1981 original cult classic. "We let 'em have a lot of creative leeway, but the basics stay the same," he said. "The book, the possession, the rules of how you get rid of them. Every new heroine or hero has to learn how to dispel the evil because there are certain ways you conjure it, and there are certain ways you get rid of it. And not everybody figures that out easily. This family is not the same at the end of the movie. The whole family's destroyed. These people get possessed; brothers, sisters, sons, daughters. This one's a family affair. They're all related in this one. I think that makes the possession and killing your siblings, things like that, even harder."
The star also said the fact the characters in the movie are all related to each other makes it "much more excruciating." The 2013 reboot starred Jane Levy, who's not set to reprise her role as Mia. Campbell announced his live-action retirement from Ash Williams following the cancellation of the Starz! Series Ash Vs. Evil Dead. Cronin's Evil Dead Rise will feature a new cast starring Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland, Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies, Nell Fisher, and Mia Challis. Sullivan and Sutherland play estranged sisters as the focus of the story. The film will come out exclusively on HBO Max.
A road-weary Beth pays an overdue visit to her older sister Ellie, who is raising three kids on her own in a cramped L.A apartment. The sisters' reunion is cut short by the discovery of a mysterious book deep in the bowels of Ellie's building, giving rise to flesh-possessing demons, and thrusting Beth into a primal battle for survival as she is faced with the most nightmarish version of motherhood imaginable.