"The Evil Dead" film franchise has formally moved on over to the small screen with a 10-episode straight-to-series order from Starz which is slated to premiere sometime in 2015, according to Comic Book Resources.
Titled "Ash vs. Evil Dead," the follow-up to the classic film franchise reteams the original filmmakers, director Sam Raimi, longtime producing partner Rob Tapert and star Bruce Campbell who will serve as executive producers. Campbell will be reprising his role as Ash, the S-Mart Housewares employee with an acid tongue and a chainsaw-hand who has spent the last 30 years dodging accountability... as well as the horrors of the Evil Dead. When a new Deadite outbreak endangers the world once again, Ash has to man up and face his demons...both personal and literal.
Raimi himself will direct the inaugural episode of "Ash vs. Evil Dead," which he co-wrote with his brother Ivan Raimi and Tom Spezialy. "Evil Dead has always been a blast," said Raimi. "Bruce, Rob, and I are thrilled to have the opportunity to tell the next chapter in Ash's lame, but heroic saga. With his chainsaw arm and his 'boomstick,' Ash is back to kick some monster butt. And brother, this time there's a truckload of it."
The original, independently produced "Evil Dead" film followed Ash and his friends who travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release nasty spirits, who seem intent on possessing the living, from an evil book called the Necronomicon. It was a hit, spawning a franchise that included two sequels directed by Raimi, produced by Tapert and starring Campbell, as well as video games and comic books. There was also a recent feature reboot, which was much better than it had any right to be, produced by Raimi and Tapert and directed by Fede Alvarez.
Stay tuned for more on "Ash vs. Evil Dead" as it develops.
