With the remake of THE EVIL DEAD hitting next month, we understandably put any hope of a genuine sequel aside forever. But according to the original trilogy’s creator Sam Raimi, that might not be the case. Speaking at a recent event to promote the spectacular OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL (read our review here), the much-loved filmmaker had this bombshell to drop:

“I would love to make Evil Dead 4. My brother and I plan to work on the script this summer.” 

Now before we get excited, any hardcore Dead-head will know that Raimi wheels this tease out every couple of years, and every time it garners the same feverish response from fans. But then… nothing. The last time Raimi addressed revisiting the property, it resulted in the announcement that they were going with the remake approach instead. Not only was this greeted with the usual cries of sacrilege, perhaps the biggest sting of all came from the realisation that we’d never get to catch up with Ashley Williams again. How could we? Has there ever been a franchise that’s been rebooted and also continued its original canon? No. After all, how confusing would that be for mass audiences? Answer: very. Now if they’d have gone with our original theory and had Ash cameo in the new movie (it’s just a haunted cabin in the woods, after all – it’s probably claimed countless victims before Ash destroyed it in EVIL DEAD II, could this just be a new batch of unlucky vacationers?) then Raimi et al could have had it both ways. But every indication suggests they haven’t gone that route… Unless they’ve got one mother of a surprise up their sleeves. Sure, they’d have some explaining to do if Ash showed up at the end, but when your canon incorporates a magic book and time travel, then anything is explainable. And what about last year’s story that saw Raimi and co. take a production company to court to stop them making an unofficial continuation of the EVIL DEAD series? Their biggest defense was that they absolutely planned to do something with their characters in the future. See what’s happened already? Raimi’s got us right where he wants us again, we’re nerding out over a franchise started in 1981 and hasn’t seen since for over twenty years!!! Damn you, sir. Damn you to hell. 

Right now we’re going with the opinion that Raimi is just playing with us, and we refuse to put any stock into this until he and (co-writer) Ivan Raimi announce a completed script.

Or until Ash shows up in the EVIL DEAD “remake”. 

Quote source: @DisneyMoviesUK (via BleedingCool)

EVIL DEAD opens in UK cinemas April 19th.

Will EVIL DEAD 4 ever happen, or is Raimi taking the piss? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter @STARBURST_MAG

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