Sam Raimi is returning to his horror roots. The Spider-Man trilogy and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness filmmaker is directing and producing Send Help, a new horror-thriller from Disney’s 20th Century Studios. Rachel McAdams, who reprised her MCU role as Dr. Christine Palmer in the Raimi-directed Doctor Strange 2, is set to star opposite 20th Century’s Maze Runner star Dylan O’Brien. Deadline first reported the casting news.
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Send Help is described as a survival horror thriller about “two colleagues who become stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash,” the synopsis states. “On the island, they must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, but ultimately, it’s a battle of wills and wits to make it out alive.”
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2022’s Doctor Strange sequel was Raimi’s first film behind the camera since Disney’s Wizard of Oz prequel, 2013’s Oz the Great and Powerful. The Evil Dead director has also produced such horror films as Poltergeist (2015), Don’t Breathe (2017), Crawl (2019), The Grudge remake (2019), and Evil Dead Rise (2023) via his Ghost House Pictures. Send Help is from 20th Century and Raimi’s newly formed production company, Raimi Productions, behind recent thrillers 65 (2023), Boy Kills World (2023), and Netflix’s Don’t Move (2024).
Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, who penned 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason and 2009’s Friday the 13th remake, wrote the original script as their first project since the Dwayne Johnson-starring Baywatch reboot in 2017.
O’Brien recently starred in Caddo Lake, the Max original thriller film produced by M. Night Shyamalan, and as a young Dan Aykroyd in Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night. In addition to his role as Thomas in 20th Century’s blockbuster Maze Runner trilogy and Stiles in TV’s Teen Wolf, O’Brien’s credits include Love and Monsters, Infinite, and the upcoming thriller Anniversary about a movement called “The Change” that tears apart a close-knit family as it envelops the United States.
McAdams is best known for her roles as Regina George in the original Mean Girls and Allie in The Notebook. Recent credits include True Detective, Game Night, Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret., and FX’s Dave.
In October, it was reported Raimi is in talks to direct Doctor Strange 3 for Disney’s Marvel Studios after replacing Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson on the second movie that starred McAdams alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Benedict Wong. McAdams isn’t expected to return for the third movie, which has yet to be formally announced by Marvel Studios. Raimi, who infused the multiverse-spanning movie with a horror touch, has also expressed interest in directing a future Batman movie and a potential Spider-Man 4 with Tobey Maguire.
