Evil Dead Star Bruce Campbell Teases Franchise's Future, Including His Return for Animated Series
Two more movies might only be the beginning of what's in store for Evil Dead fans.
News emerged earlier this year that two different Evil Dead films were on the way, one from filmmaker Sébastien Vaniček and one from filmmaker Francis Galluppi, but that won't be the last adventures set in the franchise, with star and producer Bruce Campbell confirming that an animated series was in development. Campbell retired from the role of Ash Williams in 2018 with the final season of Ash vs. Evil Dead, though with the actor confirming it was merely due to the physical toll the franchise took on him, he doesn't see himself retiring from voicing Ash in future projects.
"We are developing an animated version, like a series," Campbell confirmed to Entertainment Weekly. "I'll do that. I'll do Ash's voice all day long, because my voice hasn't aged as much as I have."
With Campbell having shared in 2023 that an animated movie was in the works, fans will speculate about if that plan has morphed into a series or if his most recent remarks possibly refer to a series of animated movies.
Last year's Evil Dead Rise marked the first new live-action Evil Dead movie since 2013, with the financial success of the former igniting interest in the seemingly dormant series. Campbell teased that two more movies are on the way, but there could be more projects on the horizon, based on the financial success of the concept.
"The future is two more damn movies," the actor recalled. "We've got two new fabulous directors that have two new scripts in the shoot, and we think we've suckered a studio into coughing up the dough for both, since they seem to still make money."
He continued, "The funny thing is, the Evil Dead movies, the last one made $140 million, and the Evil Dead movies don't usually make that much money ... They're cheap, so they don't have to make that much -- but now that they're making real money, it's kinda hard to look away. And we want to do it -- the last one was 10 years ago, Fede [Álvarez's reboot] was 2013! So we want to get a little more of a pipeline for folks who still follow it, who want to see it. They want to see it in the new incarnation!"
The first two Evil Dead movies took place in a cabin before the third movie, Army of Darkness, went back to medieval times, while the 2013 remake returned to a cabin and Ash vs. Evil Dead took place in multiple rural and secluded locations. Campbell went on to note how, by putting Evil Dead Rise in an apartment building in the middle of a city, virtually anything is on the table for the future.
"We're out of the cabin, Sam [Raimi] doesn't have to direct, I don't have to star as Ash," the performer pointed out. "The trick is to take the elements that people like, which is innocent people being tortured by a malicious entity, and it's people who have no skills to stop it."
Stay tuned for updates on the Evil Dead franchise.
What do you think of the actor's remarks? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!
