Evil Dead Rise Release Date: When Did They Film Evil Dead Rise?

By Madhav Gupta Last updated Feb 4, 2023

The comedy-horror franchise Evil Dead is making a comeback from the grave with a brand new bloody tale. In October 2019, a new film titled Evil Dead Rise was revealed, promising to bring a new story to the renowned brand created by Sam Raimi.

Fans of the original films are anticipating the return of the franchise’s signature brand of funny, offbeat horror under the direction of Lee Cronin (A Hole in the Ground), with Raimi serving as executive producer once again.

The question is, what will the plot of the new movie be? Will Ash Williams, the grizzled antihero, still play a role in the narrative? If you dare read on, you’ll find the answers to these questions and more.

Evil Dead Rise Release Date

Despite having an original 2022 premiere date for HBO Max, Evil Dead Rise will now open in theatres on April 21, 2023 thanks to a revised marketing plan and successful test screenings. In addition to Evil Dead Rise, several other upcoming films were also planned as HBO Max exclusives, including House Party, Magic Mike: Last Dance, and Blue Beetle.

Damn kids never clean up the kitchen. #EvilDeadRise. pic.twitter.com/eaTn87aj3h

— Lee Cronin (@curleecronin) July 21, 2021

Similarly, Paramount’s horror blockbuster Smile from last year followed a similar trajectory until ultimately finding success in theatres after being repurposed from a Paramount+ original.

When Did They Film Evil Dead Rise?

The new movie was shot in New Zealand beginning in June 2021 and finished in late October of the same year. Lee Cronin tweeted that he was “on my way home to cut this thing together” after the shoot wrapped.

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Cronin has given his Twitter followers a first look at the film by sharing some behind-the-scenes photographs. You can get a sense of the tone of this new chapter in the demonic possession saga from the photographs, which range from his bleeding sneakers to… well, puddles of blood and chunks of bloody artificial flesh.

8 months, 1 Covid Lockdown, 6,500 litres of blood, and more memories than my brain can even process. That is a wrap on #EvilDeadRise. Thank you New Zealand, it’s been a blast. Time to head home and cut this beast together. pic.twitter.com/iyah4vEEqL

— Lee Cronin (@curleecronin) October 26, 2021

The next installment isn’t straying too far from the series’ bloody beginnings, which should please longtime fans. Several nations, including Finland, Ukraine, and Singapore, banned the trilogy’s initial picture, The Evil Dead (1981), and its 2013 remake, because of their extreme violence.

It’s very bad that some people couldn’t watch the movies, but I guess it just adds to their cool factor. It remains to be seen if Evil Dead Rise suffers the same blacklisting as its predecessor after Cronin revealed in a social media post that the cast and crew utilized more than 6,500 liters of artificial blood during filming.

Will Bruce Campbell Be in Evil Dead Rise?

Bruce Campbell’s Ash Williams is taken back in time to the Middle Ages in the third and final film of the original trilogy, Army of Darkness, and must locate and use the Necronomicon to return to the present. Ash fights his way through Deadites, aids Duke Henry in winning the war, and kills his clone before finding the Necronomicon and following its (fuzzy) instructions to return to his own time and place.

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In the film’s climactic moments, patrons of S-Mart are attacked by a time-traveling Deadite, which is promptly dispatched by Ash, who is standing in the middle of the hardware store with his rifle drawn. Afterward, Ash tells his coworker his now-famous words, “Hail to the king, baby,” and they share a passionate kiss.

Unfortunately, this is the last time Ash Williams will appear in a movie. Campbell has stated that he will not be reprising his role as Bruce Campbell in the upcoming picture, but will instead be working behind the scenes as a producer alongside Evil Dead series veterans Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert.

Evil Dead Rise Cast Members

Sister Beth will be played by Lily Sullivan (Mental) while mother Ellie will be played by Alyssa Sutherland (Vikings). Mia Challis (User Not Found) is also credited as an actress who will play the role of Jessica, and Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols, and Nell Fisher are credited as actors who will play roles whose names have not yet been revealed.

What Will the New Evil Dead Story Be About?

A fresh storyline in a remake presents an excellent opportunity to bring the series up to date and introduce some truly horrifying new elements. Lee Cronin, who wrote and directed the latest part, is known for his grim, unsettling style, which he debuted in the film A Hole in the Ground.

In 2019, Cronin’s film, which he also wrote and directed, was released to critical acclaim. In the narrative, a mother’s son acts very strangely after returning from a trip to the woods behind their house. A Changeling, a figure from European legend supposed to be a spirit put instead of a kid stolen by fairies, begins to convince the lady that her son is not her biological child.

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The film is set in a desolate, grey rural setting, and it features captivating sights and an odd creepiness in its tale of parental horror. There is no humor in the picture, so it’s unclear if the upcoming, perhaps scarier Evil Dead film will stick to the same goofy, comical formula as the original trilogy.