Evil Dead

American comedy horror franchise
the franchise

Evil Dead is an American comedy horror franchise created by Sam Raimi consisting of five feature films and a television series. The series originally revolves around the grimoire the Necronomicon Ex Mortis, an ancient Sumerian text that wreaks havoc upon a group of cabin inhabitants in a wooded area in Tennessee. The protagonist, Ashley Joanna "Ash" Williams (Bruce Campbell), appears in the original trilogy including The Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead II (1987), and Army of Darkness (1992), all written and directed by Raimi, produced by Robert G. Tapert and starring Campbell. The franchise has since expanded into other formats, including a television series, video games, comic books and a musical. The film franchise was resurrected in 2013 with Evil Dead, both a reboot and a loose continuation of the series directed by Fede Álvarez, who co wrote the screenplay with Rodo Sayagues. It was produced by Raimi, Campbell and Tapert, featuring a new protagonist in Mia Allen (Jane Levy). A television series, Ash vs. Evil Dead, premiered on cable network Starz in 2015, lasted for three seasons, and ended in 2018, with Campbell announcing an animated revival to be in active development in July 2022. It starred Bruce Campbell as Ash and was executive produced by Campbell, Raimi and Tapert. A fifth film in the franchise, titled Evil Dead Rise, was theatrically released on April 21, 2023, with Lee Cronin serving as writer and director, Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan starring as sisters Ellie and Beth Bixler, Tapert serving as a producer, and Raimi and Campbell both acting as executive producers. Each film of the franchise has received generally positive reviews from critics, with the original trilogy developing a cult following, and has grossed a collective $300 million worldwide.

Film U. S. release date Director(s) Screenwriter(s) Producer(s) The Evil Dead 1981 10 15 Sam Raimi Sam Raimi Robert Tapert Evil Dead II 1987 03 13 Sam Raimi & Scott Spiegel Army of Darkness 1993 02 19 Sam Raimi & Ivan Raimi Evil Dead 2013 04 05 Fede Álvarez Fede Álvarez & Rodo Sayagues Robert Tapert and Sam Raimi and Bruce CampbellEvil Dead Rise 2023 04 21 Lee Cronin Robert Tapert Untitled sixth film Sébastien Vaniček Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert Untitled seventh film Francis Galluppi Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert

Filmed in 1979 and released in 1981, this is the first film in the series. It introduces the series' protagonist Ash, the Book of the Dead, and the Deadites.

Released in 1987, this film is a sequel to the original, continuing where the last film ended (a recap of the previous film is shown in the beginning). This entry shows the horrors of Ash's continuing battle with the Necronomicon Ex Mortis and the Deadites. It also introduces elements of slapstick humor that came to define the series.

Filmed in 1991 and released in spring of 1993 in the United States, this is the third film in the franchise (and the last featuring Ash Williams taking a lead role so far), taking Ash back in time to England in 1300 AD. The movie has horror attributes, but is based mainly on slapstick and action.

Evil Dead is the title of a film that serves as a soft reboot and a continuation of the Evil Dead franchise. Unlike the first three films, this one does not feature the character of Ash Williams in a major role (Ash only appears briefly in a post credits scene) and instead follows a new protagonist named Mia Allen. The film is considered a continuation of the franchise, and plans to feature both Ash and Mia in future installments have been discussed.

In October 2019, Raimi announced at the New York Comic Con that a new film was officially green lit and in development. Robert G. Tapert was set to produce, while Raimi and Campbell served as executive producers only, all under their Ghost House Pictures banner. In June 2020, Lee Cronin was chosen as a director with a script he wrote. Raimi chose the filmmaker from a list of potential directors to continue the franchise. Officially titled Evil Dead Rise, the project was announced to be developed by New Line Cinema and released on HBO Max. Principal photography commenced on June 6, 2021, in New Zealand. In May 2021, Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan had been cast in the film, and Mia Challis in July. Cronin stated the production was half way completed by July 2021, and filming concluded on October 27, 2021. The filmmaker stated that the project used over 6,500 liters of fake blood during production. Evil Dead Rise was theatrically released on April 21, 2023. Later that month, Campbell stated that after positive experiences as a producer on Evil Dead Rise, he would consider reprising his lead role in a future film if Raimi were to return as director, reversing his previous "retirement" from the role following the cancellation of Ash vs Evil Dead. By April of the same year, writer/director Lee Cronin stated that he has ideas for a series of future Evil Dead installments serving as direct sequels to Evil Dead Rise, that he hopes to see realized. That same month, Campbell announced that Sam and Ivan Raimi were co writing a bible to outline the future of the franchise; stating that films that follow will adhere to the overall outline, with current plans including releasing a new film in the franchise "every couple" years, as opposed to the most recent activity of once every decade.

In February 2024, it was announced that a spin off film is currently in development. Sébastien Vaniček will serve as director from a script he co wrote with Florent Bernard. Selected by Raimi to helm the new installment in the series, the film's plot is currently under wraps. Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert will serve as producers, with Ghost House Pictures producing the project.

In April 2024, it was announced that a spin off film is currently in development. Francis Galluppi will serve as writer and director. Selected by Raimi to helm the new installment in the series, the film's plot is currently under wraps. Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert will serve as producers, with Ghost House Pictures producing the project.

The series stars Bruce Campbell reprising his role as an older Ash Williams with a supporting cast that includes Dana DeLorenzo, Ray Santiago, Lucy Lawless and Jill Marie Jones. The series is executive produced by Campbell, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert. It premiered on Starz on October 31, 2015. Ash vs Evil Dead proved to be a critically well received show, earning a 98% from Rotten Tomatoes. Four days before its premiere, the show was picked up for a second ten episode season. The series lasted for three seasons (30 episodes) before it was canceled by Starz in April 2018.

Following the cancellation of Ash vs Evil Dead, Bruce Campbell announced he was officially retired from portraying the character of Ash, although he would continue to voice the character in animation. Subsequently, on July 25, 2022, Campbell announced that an animated revival of Ash vs Evil Dead was in active development, with Campbell returning as the voice of Ash.

Film U. S. release date Director(s) Screenwriter(s) Producer(s) Within the Woods October 30, 1978 Sam Raimi Sam Raimi, Rip Tapert & Bruce Campbell

A prototype short film, Within the Woods, was produced by Raimi on a micro budget to market his concept and acquire funding from producers and studios for a feature length film. The short was a meager success. Despite this, the release proceeded to spawn the entire franchise.

In January 1978, Bruce Campbell was a college dropout who had just quit his job as a taxicab driver. Sam Raimi was studying literature at Michigan State University with Robert Tapert, who was finishing his economics degree. While putting the finishing touches on It's Murder!, Tapert suggested doing a feature length film to Raimi. Raimi felt it impossible, stating that they could never acquire the funding. Campbell declared: "I could always move back home." Tapert feared a career in fisheries/wildlife, while Raimi was afraid that he would have to go back to work at his dad's home furnishing store. These were the practical reasons that convinced the three to put forth a feature length film. The three were big fans of the comedy genre, but they decided not to produce a comedy as they felt "a feature length yuck fest just didn't compute". A well noted scene from It's Murder moved Raimi to write the short film Clockwork. The three felt the result was very effective and represented a new direction that their films could take, that of a semi successful horror film. This would later lead to research of low budget horror films at the local drive in theater. The many films that they watched were the "two films for two dollars," allowing them the chance to document the behavior of what would become their target audience. Campbell said: "The message was very clear: Keep the pace fast and furious, and once the horror starts, never let up. 'The gorier the merrier' became our prime directive." The films they watched included Massacre at Central High and Revenge of the Cheerleaders. The idea to do a "prototype" was commissioned, to prove not only to themselves, but also to potential investors, that they were capable of doing a full length horror film. The same year, at Michigan State, Raimi had been studying H. P. Lovecraft and was most impressed with Necronomicon, or simply The Book of the Dead. From these rough concepts, he concocted a short story where a group of four friends unwittingly dig up an Indian burial ground and unleash horrific spirits and demons. In the spring of 1978, filming of Within the Woods started over a three day weekend, on a budget of $1,600. Within the Woods, as well as serving as a prototype, had impressed the filmmakers. For a marketing strategy, a screening was arranged at their former high school, with a positive response.

Role The Evil Dead Evil Dead II Army of Darkness Evil Dead Ash vs. Evil Dead Evil Dead Rise Composer Joseph LoDuca Joseph LoDucaDanny Elfman Roque Baños Joseph LoDuca Stephen McKeon Cinematographer Tim Philo Peter Deming Bill Pope Aaron Morton Dave GarbettJohn Cavill Dave Garbett Editor Edna Ruth Paul Kaye Davis Bob MurawskiR. O. C. Sandstorm Bryan Shaw Bob Murawski Bryan Shaw Production companies Renaissance Pictures Renaissance PicturesRosebud Releasing Renaissance PicturesDino De Laurentiis Communications FilmDistrictGhost House PicturesTriStar Pictures Renaissance PicturesStarz Originals Ghost House PicturesNew Line Cinema Distributing companies New Line Cinema Embassy CommunicationsDe Laurentiis Entertainment Group Universal Studios Sony Pictures Releasing Anchor Bay Entertainment Warner Bros. Pictures Running time 85 minutes 84 minutes 81 minutes 92 minutes 25–37 minutes 97 minutes

Film Box office revenue Budget ReferenceUnited StatesInternationalWorldwide The Evil Dead $2,400,000 $27,495,379 $29,895,379 $375,000 Evil Dead II $5,923,044 $5,890 $5,928,934 $3.5 million Army of Darkness $11,502,976 $10,002,949 $21,505,925 $11 million Evil Dead $54,239,856 $43,303,096 $97,542,952 $17 million Evil Dead Rise $67,219,338 $78,800,000 $146,019,338 $15 million Total $ $ $ $46.88 million

Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore The Evil Dead 86% (83 reviews) 71/100 (11 reviews) Evil Dead II 88% (83 reviews) 72/100 (18 reviews) Army of Darkness 68% (87 reviews) 59/100 (32 reviews) Evil Dead 63% (206 reviews) 57/100 (38 reviews) C+ Ash vs. Evil Dead, season one 98% (52 reviews) 76/100 (32 reviews) Ash vs. Evil Dead, season two 100% (17 reviews) 82/100 (5 reviews) Ash vs. Evil Dead, season three 100% (15 reviews) 80/100 (2 reviews) Evil Dead Rise 84% (232 reviews) 69/100 (37 reviews) B

In 1992, Dark Horse Comics produced a mini series adaptation of Army of Darkness adapted and illustrated by John Bolton. A trade paperback of this series was released by Dynamite Entertainment on September 25, 2006. In 2008, Dark Horse revisited the franchise with a four issue adaptation of The Evil Dead written by Mark Verheiden and once again illustrated by John Bolton.

In 2004, Dynamite Entertainment acquired the license to publish titles based on Army of Darkness and, in conjunction with Devil's Due Publishing, released the Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes mini series. A second mini series, Army of Darkness: Shop till You Drop Dead followed in 2005. Later that year, Dynamite separated itself from Devil's Due and began focusing entirely on self published titles featuring the Army of Darkness franchise. This included an ongoing series that began in 2005 and saw Ash battling other horror icon such as Herbert West and Dracula. The series lasted thirteen issues before being rebooted with a second volume in 2007. The second series lasted twenty seven issues before coming to an end. Over the years, there have also been several one shot specials as well as crossovers with a wide variety of characters such as, Marvel Zombies, Darkman, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Xena, Danger Girl and even Barack Obama. The series was then rebooted in 2013 and started over from the last scene in titular film because Ash misspoke the words S Mart was sent back in time to the Medieval times where the wiseman has been possessed, Ash fights through many battles with the same characters from the film. At the end of this series Ash proposes to Sheila, in the next series "Ash gets hitched" they get married but Ash gets sent forward in time when he accidentally speaks a phrase that opens up a vortex. He wants to get back to Sheila but runs into many situations causing delays, he is currently in space fighting the evil.

In the documentary The Untold Saga of The Evil Dead, Rob Tapert states that New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures wanted to do Ash vs. Freddy vs. Jason: "We thought about it for one second but we knew we would have totally trashed the franchise in doing that, in that there would be no reason to reunite Bruce and Sam for Evil Dead 4 whatever that would be nor would there be any reason to go back and reinvent the original Evil Dead with a hot new filmmaker". Two comic book series were produced based on this concept, titled Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash and Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash: The Nightmare Warriors.