While last week saw Bruce Campbell confirmed to return to his most iconic role as the chainsaw-armed Ash, today sees confirmation that Sam Raimi will step behind the camera and actually direct Army of Darkness 2. Although Raimi’s involvement was a strong possibility, there was no official word as to whether he or 2013’s Evil Dead director Fede Alvarez would helm the project. Now, rest assured that the campy horror maestro is officially directing. News that Raimi will direct comes straight from the horse’s mouth as Alvarez confirmed that he would not be directing and Raimi would via his official Twitter account.
Although Raimi has had a bit of an unpredictable track record of late – and his last film, Oz: The Great and Powerful, was absolutely dreadful The 2013 remake/reinvention of the Evil Dead franchise saw life return to the franchise, life that Army of Darkness 2 looks to capitalize on. Speculation has already started to stir about hopes of “world building” – a tactic that could bring together the events of both the old and new franchise in an Avengers style mash-up.
Whether or not Ash will end up crossing paths with Jane Levy‘s Mia or not, you can rejoice in the fact that Raimi is returning to his bread and butter: campy horror. Raimi build his name around this brand of funny, gory films before stepping in to helm the Spiderman trilogy. 2009’s utterly terrific Drag Me To Hell proved that Raimi can easily jump back onto the saddle and direct horror like the back of his hand. While Army of Darkness 2 won’t see a release date for at least a few years, we can only cross our fingers that it will signal a return to form for the auteur.
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