The Deadites Return! EVIL DEAD BURN Begins Filming with Director Sébastien Vaniček at the Helm
The Deadites are back, and this time they’re coming for the big screen in Sébastien Vaniček’s Evil Dead Burn. Production on the latest entry in the legendary horror franchise has officially started, and Vaniček marked the occasion with a set photo on Instagram, confirming the film is locked in for its July 24, 2026 release.
Vaniček isn’t just any director stepping into the Evil Dead universe. The filmmaker, who blew horror fans away with his critically acclaimed French creature feature Infested, is co-writing and directing Evil Dead Burn for Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures.
Much like the recent entries, this will be a standalone story, bringing the Deadites’ carnage to a fresh group of characters in an all-new setting, pushing the mythology beyond the days of Ash Williams and his chainsaw.
Vaniček’s breakout hit Infested was praised for its suffocating tension and relentless terror, trapping characters inside a crumbling apartment building as hyper-evolving, highly intelligent spiders turned it into a death trap.
The practical effects and raw intensity of that film have horror fans confident that Vaniček will deliver a brutal, visceral experience worthy of the Evil Dead name.
The director previously teased that it’s going to be a nasty film that hurts. “I told the studio that I wanted to make a nasty film, a film that hurts, from which you come away tested. I’m going to put all the horror I have inside, it will be cathartic, and if I haven’t ruined my career and I can continue to make films behind it, I will move on to something other than horror!”
He also says that producer Sam Raimi is giving him “100% creative freedom” to play in the Evil Dead sandbox, and that he’s looking to incorporate a “French twist.”
Leading the cast is Souheila Yacoub, known for playing the fierce Fremen warrior Shishakli in Dune: Part Two. Joining her are Hunter Doohan (Wednesday), Luciane Buchanan (The Night Agent), and Tandi Wright, who horror fans will remember from Pearl.
Character details remain under wraps, but the casting fits the modern formula: center the chaos around a strong female lead, a tradition carried by Jane Levy in the 2013 reboot and Lily Sullivan and Alyssa Sutherland in Evil Dead Rise.
Ghost House Pictures is doubling down on the franchise’s future, with another spinoff already in active development. That film comes from Francis Galluppi, director of the acclaimed crime thriller The Last Stop in Yuma County.
Galluppi’s project, based on an original idea pitched to Raimi, signals a bold move for the brand: bringing fresh voices into the Evil Dead sandbox.
This aggressive expansion comes on the heels of Evil Dead Rise, which was a massive success in 2023, pulling in over $147 million worldwide on a lean budget.
That film proved the franchise’s formula of unrelenting horror and Deadite mayhem still hits hard with modern audiences. With Vaniček’s Evil Dead Burn now filming and Galluppi’s mysterious spinoff in the works, Ghost House is building something bigger—a shared universe of bloody mayhem that keeps the franchise alive and thriving.
The Deadites will rise again when Evil Dead Burn hits theaters on July 24, 2026. Groovy, right?