Evil Dead Rise Moves From HBO Max to Theatrical Release

As predicted by franchise star and producer Bruce Campbell, the upcoming Evil Dead Rise has officially been shifted from an HBO Max exclusive release to a theatrical one. Deadline brings word of the shift in Warner Bros. Discovery’s plans for the horror sequel, revealing that the film is now scheduled to be released on April 21, 2023. Evil Dead Rise now occupies the release date that Warner Bros. had previously bookmarked for two other horror movies, the remakes of Salem’s Lot and Last Train to Busan, both of which have been delayed. Upon its debut the film will arrive just over ten years since the 2013 remake, Fede Álvarez’s Evil Dead.

Evil Dead Rise director Lee Cronin took to social media to confirm the news, revealing his crew hat from the production and writing: “The Evil Dead shall RISE!!! 04/21/23. Exclusively in theatres. The countdown to carnage has begun.” Cronin’s previous feature credit includes 2019’s The Hole in the Ground, but he also helmed a two-part episode of Sam Raimi’s Quibi horror series, 50 States of Fright, a job that put him in the sights of the original Evil Dead filmmaker.

“We just had a preview thhat was very high ratings,” Bruce Campbell previously told CBR about the film. “They were potentially going to stream it on HBO Max, but it might go theatrical….It’s an urban version of Evil Dead now. Ain’t no cabin anymore. We’re going single mom in the city. The apartment is the cabin. It’s going to creep your sh-t out.” Despite appearing in all the other films in the series, Campbell will not star in Evil Dead Rise but did produce it,

Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan and young stars Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies, and Nell Fisher, are confirmed to star in Evil Dead Rise. The official synopsis for the movie reads as follows: “In the fifth Evil Dead film, a road-weary Beth pays an overdue visit to her older sister Ellie, who is raising three kids on her own in a cramped L.A. apartment. The sisters’ reunion is cut short by the discovery of a mysterious book deep in the bowels of Ellie’s building, giving rise to flesh-possessing demons, and thrusting Beth into a primal battle for survival as she is faced with the most nightmarish version of motherhood imaginable.”