The Evil Dead franchise is rising again. The revitalization started back in 2013 with Fede Alvarez’s film Evil Dead, which was followed up by the Sam Raimi-produced television series Ash vs Evil Dead, which ran three seasons and starred original franchise star Bruce Campbell. While there was a lull in content for a short period of time, it was Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise that would help keep the IP fresh in the minds of audiences, giving way for the latest sequel that has been in production: Evil Dead Burn.
The latest production update for the film comes via social media, with Bloody Disgusting tweeting a behind-the-scenes video which features one of the characters in the movie. In what looks like a grisly and violent scene, the caption for the tweet revealed that filming has wrapped on Evil Dead Burn, bringing it that much closer to hitting theaters. With the video also came the release date of July 24, 2026, less than a year away. The summer horror release slot is usually for bigger releases in the genre, showing the faith that Warner Bros. Pictures are in the franchise. It’s unsurprising given the financial success of Evil Dead Rise, which became the highest grossing film in the series.
Interestingly, the entire Evil Dead series of films could have taken a completely different direction, as Evil Dead Rise was originally slated to be an HBO Max film, going straight to streaming. However, it was the positive test screening reactions that encouraged the studio to take it to theaters. It’s a scenario that isn’t dissimilar to what happened with Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus, which had also been intended to be released only on Hulu, and also found box office success and would spawn a sequel that is currently in pre-production.
‘Evil Dead Burn’ Continues the Horror Series Trend of Hiring Exciting New Directors
It’s unknown how connected Evil Dead Burn will be to the 2023 film, especially since Evil Dead Rise essentially serves as a prequel to the disturbing opening of the film. More than likely, Burn will follow a new group of people and a standalone story, taking on an almost anthology-like format for the series. The movie is set to be directed by Sébastien Vaniček, who co-wrote the film with Florent Bernard. Much like executive producer Sam Raimi’s previous recruitment efforts, Vaniček was brought on because of his previous work on his directorial debut Infested, with which Raimi was impressed with.
The Evil Dead franchise has proven itself not only to be a mainstay in the horror genre, but also an opportunity for young directors who have worked on similar projects to be brought into a bigger production and show what they are capable of. Bloody Disgusting‘s small behind-the-scenes tidbit of footage shows that Vaniček isn’t shying away from any of the violence and gore that made the series so iconic in the first place, and hopefully Evil Dead Burn follows in the steps of the previous film and finds similar box office success, and builds upon the lore from the previous entries in the franchise.
- Release Date
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July 24, 2026
- Director
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Sébastien Vanicek
- Writers
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Florent Bernard, Sébastien Vanicek
- Producers
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Robert Tapert