Key Takeaways
- Future Projects: Bruce Campbell and the rights holders are planning to produce new entries in the Evil Dead series every two to three years.
- Upcoming Film: The next film, titled Evil Dead Burn, is set to be released on July 24, 2026.
- New Direction: Campbell will have less involvement in the upcoming films compared to previous installments.
- Personal Project: Campbell is currently focused on his own film, a comedy called Ernie & Emma.
In the build-up to the release of Evil Dead Rise (read our review right HERE) in 2023, Evil Dead franchise rights holders Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Rob Tapert let it be known that they were already looking forward to producing more entries in the series, with Campbell revealing they were hoping to make a new sequel / spin-off every two or three years. They quickly proved their commitment to this idea by hiring Vermin, a.k.a. Infested, director Sébastien Vaniček to make an Evil Dead movie that will be called Evil Dead Burn and is set to reach theatres on July 24, 2026. Two months later, the rights holders also hired Francis Galluppi, who just made his feature directorial debut with the crime thriller The Last Stop in Yuma County, to write and direct his own Evil Dead flick. We haven’t heard any more about that one – but Campbell has let it be known that he will be less involved behind-the-scenes on Vaniček and Galluppi’s movies than he was on Fede Alvarez’s Evil Dead (2013) and Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise. That’s because he’s busy working on his own movie, a comedy called Ernie & Emma!
Written and directed by Campbell, Ernie & Emma has the following synopsis: Widowed pear salesman Ernie Tyler travels to scatter his wife’s ashes in places she specified, each location stirring memories that help him process their marriage, his work life, and his future. Campbell also stars in the movie as Ernie.
During an interview with TheHorrorZine, Campbell was asked how involved he’ll be as an executive producer on Evil Dead Burn. He answered, “I was very involved in 2013 and Evil Dead Rise. Currently, I’m on a multi-year odyssey to complete and sell my next flick Ernie & Emma around the world, so I won’t be as involved in the next two that come down the pike.“
New Line Cinema and Sony Pictures are co-financing Evil Dead Burn, which Vaniček is directing from a screenplay he wrote with Florent Bernard. Sony will distribute internationally, with Canal Plus distributing in the UK and Metropolitan distributing in France. Details on the story Vaniček will be telling in Evil Dead Burn have not been revealed, but he has said that he has complete creative control on his Evil Dead movie, and intends to give it a French twist. The cast includes Souheila Yacoub (Dune: Part Two), Hunter Doohan (Your Honor), Luciane Buchanan (The Night Agent), and Tandi Wright (Pearl).
As for Ernie & Emma, Campbell said the project was born out of “a desire to see if I could make a ‘one character’ movie. Eventually, with influences of my dad as a Detroit ad guy and the place where I currently live, Ernie was born.” He added that Ernie and Emma “were married for a long time, so there was lots of history, baggage and unresolved issues. The journey comes with many revelations, good and bad.” The film deals with death “directly. Emma is a lead character of the movie. It was nice to do an ‘age appropriate’ role.“
Campbell has previously directed the sci-fi comedy Man with the Screaming Brain and the horror comedy My Name Is Bruce, as well as episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and V.I.P.. For years, he talked about making a movie called Bruce vs. Frankenstein, but that one hasn’t made it into production.
Are you interested in Ernie & Emma? What do you think of Bruce Campbell being less involved with the next two Evil Dead movies? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
