Irish filmmaker Lee Cronin (The Hole in the Ground) has been confirmed as writer and director of the new The Evil Dead film by co-creator Bruce Campbell when speaking with Empire Magazine.
Cronin’s debut feature, The Hole in The Ground made a number of headlines following its world premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in 2019, which included the acquisition of the North American distribution rights by A24 and DirecTV, as well as a host of other international territory sales.
This proved to be enough to garner the attention of Ash himself, Bruce Campbell, who opened up about the latest developments around the new film. “We’re just getting off the phone with Lee Cronin, who is writing and directing the next Evil Dead,” he confirmed to Empire. “It’s called Evil Dead Now. Sam handpicked Lee – he did a cool movie called The Hole In The Ground. We’re going to get that sucker out as soon as practical.”
As in Fede Alvarez’s 2013 Evil Dead, this one won’t feature Ash, who has hung up the chainsaw and shotgun for perhaps the last time – and will, by the sounds of things, centre on a female protagonist. “From this point forward, they kind of have to stand on their own. Which is fine. And liberating,” said Campbell. “You could have different heroes, different heroines in this case. This one’s gonna be a little more dynamic.”
Campbell also reaffirmed that although fans of the franchise could look forward to something new, the core themes of the famous series would remain intact. “We just want to keep the series current. And the mantra, really, is that our heroes and heroines are just regular people. That’s what we’re going to continue.”
Click here to watch our interview with director Lee Cronin and actor Seana Kerslake about his debut feature film, The Hole In The Ground.