Next Installment in Sam Raimi’s Franchise, ‘Evil Dead Wrath,’ Gets an Update!
With Evil Dead Burn currently carving up the box office, the next entry in the bloody, bombastic horror series is already lined up. Series creator Sam Raimi and perennial producer Rob Tapert are taking audiences back to where it all began – and then going even further.
It has been revealed that the upcoming film, titled Evil Dead Wrath, will be a prequel, set in 1972 and predating the fateful events that befell Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) in the Tennessee cabin. Written and directed by Francis Galluppi (The Last Stop in Yuma County), the project promises to mimic gritty 1970s filmmaking techniques while channeling coming-of-age themes. Tapert calls the throwback style “yet another great departure” for the franchise.
The film features an ensemble cast including Charlotte Hope, Jessica McNamee (Mortal Kombat), Zach Gilford, Josh Helman, and Ella Newton. While a deep dive into the cosmic origins of the Necronomicon is unlikely, the prequel is expected to show how the cursed Book of the Dead circulated through the United States before winding up buried in the woods.
Evil Dead Wrath is currently scheduled to unleash its reign of terror in theaters on April 7, 2028. Meanwhile, Evil Dead Burn is holding down the fort for franchise fans.
Directed by Sébastien Vaniček, Burn currently sits with a favorable 72% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics are heavily divided, praising the sheer creative brutality while acknowledging it is a deeply polarizing ride. Hailed as the most violent and unrelenting entry to date, some of its most extreme gore had to be trimmed to avoid an NC-17 rating.
Unlike the campy horror-comedy of Evil Dead II or Army of Darkness, Burn trades giggles for a bleak, Hereditary-style psychological dread. Tapert recently summarized the narrative roots of Burn, explaining that the plan was for the grounded, tragic circumstances of the family unit to anchor the gore.
“It’s the story of a French woman in a bad marriage in America, and… what we will discover along the ride – was probably an abusive husband, whose family did not believe her – and so they were basically the in-laws from hell,” he said.
