EVIL DEAD WRATH Gears Up for Blood-Soaked Production in New Zealand
The Evil Dead machine keeps rolling, and it looks like we’ve got a new title to carve into the Necronomicon. The seventh film in the long-running horror franchise is gearing up to shoot in New Zealand, and a recent listing suggests it’ll be titled Evil Dead Wrath.
Production on Evil Dead Burn, directed by Sébastien Vaniček, wrapped principal photography last October. Now the next nightmare is already revving up.
According to a Screen Guild listing, cameras are set to roll later this month on director Francis Galluppi’s take on the franchise. Galluppi previously helmed The Last Stop in Yuma County, and this marks his leap into one of horror’s most blood-soaked universes.
While Evil Dead Wrath might not end up being the final title, it’s the name currently circulating as the film heads into production. We’ll likely get official confirmation once filming is underway and the marketing machine kicks in.
As for story details, they’re locked away tighter than the Book of the Dead itself. No plot specifics have been revealed, but if franchise history tells us anything, someone is almost certainly going to crack open the Necronomicon and unleash something very, very bad. That’s tradition at this point.
Galluppi previously said of the film: "All I can really say is how much of a fan I am of Evil Dead and how much I really care about this franchise. It truly is one of the movies that made me want to make movies. I'm not just saying that.”
He continued: "I grew up watching Back to the Future and Indiana Jones and these huge spectacles and spent most of my life playing music because film, making movies seems so unattainable, and there's something about the original Evil Dead that you could just tell that [director] Sam [Raimi] and Bruce [Campbell] were out there having so much fun making the thing they wanted to make.”
“And it was so innovative”, he added, “and that's really the thing that inspired me to go pick up a camera and get my friends together and go out and make a horror short.
“My office is covered in Evil Dead stuff, so I have, it's just very exciting. I'm really excited. Everyone at Ghost House is just really, they're just great to work with."
He went on to talk about which of the Evil Dead films might influence his own spinoff, saying: "I like them all. I'm dead serious. I think that it's a perfect ... they have not f-cked up any of the movies. They're all great, and I love them all for my own reasons.”
He then pointed out Army of Darkness, saying: “Obviously, Army of Darkness came out in a time, a perfect age for me, so I watched that a lot growing up, and Evil Dead had a huge impact on me when I was 18. And I love Fede [Álvarez's]. I love Lee [Cronin's]. They're all great.”
He added: “I really can't tell you if ... I feel like I always go back to the original Evil Dead. It's just a comfort movie for me. But with that said, I watch them all. Even the show. The show is great."
When it comes to the Ash vs. Evil Dead series, Galluppi said: "When that show was on, it was like, that was the one show where we always had a f-cking weekly party at my house, and everyone came over and we got pizza, and we all were watching the new episode of Ash vs. Evil Dead, and I miss it."
The cast was announced late last year, and it includes Charlotte Hope (The Nun), Jessica McNamee (Mortal Kombat), Zach Gilford (Midnight Mass), Josh Helman (Mad Max: Fury Road), Ella Newton (Dangerous Animals), Australian newcomer Ella Oliphant, and Elizabeth Cullen (Goolagong).
On the producing side, Rob Tapert returns once again, joined by franchise mastermind Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell. Speaking of Campbell, there have been rumors floating around that he might step back into the chainsaw hand of Ash Williams. Nothing has been confirmed, but fans have been holding out hope ever since Ash vs Evil Dead wrapped up.
The Evil Dead franchise has proven it can reinvent itself while still delivering gallons of gore and nerve-shredding horror.