The Lee Cronin-directed “Evil Dead Rise” hit cinemas on Friday to rave critical reviews and strong audience reviews and is on track for a bigger-than-expected $23 million+ domestic opening weekend.
The film, the first entry in the franchise in a decade, appears to be a success story. From interviews this week, we’ve learned producers Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell are all for more films in the series centering around the Books of the Dead and coming out more regularly.
Cronin himself has been out doing publicity for the film, discussing his love for the originals and how he got on board. Of course, he’s also been asked about the chances of sequels.
As this is a series of wild tonal variations, the possibilities are endless for where another film could go, and Cronin tells Variety he already has at least four different ideas for potential sequels of all sorts of flavours. The first would involve a return to a woodland setting:
“Because of the opening and the closing, there’s that continuation of how this evil has a gate. That brings us back into that forest context, which excites me because I love that I broke the mold, but wouldn’t it be fun now if I went back to the cabin in the woods. It could be a cool journey.”
The next would be dealing with the consequences of the current film but focusing on a different group of people, namely: “What happens when the cleanup crew shows up?”. A third would serve as a direct sequel following any survivor, and a fourth was examining the origins of the new film’s Necronomicon.
Wherever another one goes, “Evil Dead Rise” is in theaters now.
