Evil Dead Rise Director Sets Next Movie With Blumhouse

Blumhouse will produce Lee Cronin's as-yet-untitled next film.

By Russ Burlingame

Lee Cronin, who directed New Line's hit Evil Dead Rise last year, will reteam with the studio for an as-yet-untitled horror movie -- with a twist: Cronin's next film is set to be the first partnership between New Line and Jason Blum's Blumhouse Studios. Blumhouse is coming out of a years-long deal with Universal which yielded projects like Halloween, M3gan, and Five Nights at Freddy's. New Line, meanwhile, has long been home to some of WB's best genre movies, including Mortal Kombat, Malignant, and Freddy vs. Jason. There is no word yet regarding whether Cronin's movie will be an existing IP or an original story, although a social media post from Cronin doesn't feature any "based on characters by" on the cover of his screenplay, suggesting it's new territory.

James Wan is also attached to produce this movie through his Atomic Monster label. Cronin's film is set for an April 2026 release, per Variety, who broke the news.

"Lee's work is always fresh and surprising and he has an intriguing, modern take on something quite ancient that I think audiences will love," Blum said in a statement. "This also marks an exciting series of firsts for us: Atomic Monster and Blumhouse's first time working with Lee and our first joint project for Warner Bros. We can't wait to get started."

Cronin said that to "return to New Line Cinema and my wonderful partners over there is the cherry on top" of the deal, adding, "I've got something wickedly entertaining and terrifying hidden up my sleeve, and I can't wait to bring it screaming to the big screen."

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Cronin has previously teased that he had talks with New Line about an Evil Dead sequel, although it seems likely this is a different project altogether, given the level of secrecy. Evil Dead Rise was a huge hit for New Line, earning almost $150 million against a reported $15-19 million budget. That movie currently streams on Max.

Per the Variety story, Atomic Monster and Blumhouse are co-financing Cronin's film. Wan and Jason Blum are producers. Michael Clear and Judson Scott are executive producers. Alayna Glasthal is overseeing the project for Atomic Monster.

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