There seemed to be a lot of collective unhappiness over the prospect of a remake of the cult classic horror film The Evil Dead, but with each new announcement about the film it is clear that producers Sam Raimi (who wrote and directed the 1981 original), Bruce Campbell (who starred in the original) and Robert Tapert (who also produced the original) have been making a lot of moves to significantly alter the film enough so it isn’t simply a rehash of the 1981 film. This was apparent when Diablo Cody (Juno, Young Adult) was announced as doing a rewrite on the script and little-know Urugarian filmmaker Fede Alvarez (who co-wrote the script) was picked to direct.
But the most significant difference has been revealed: the film’s protagonist will not be Ash — the fanboy favorite everyman portrayed by Campbell in the original and two sequels — but will instead be a young woman named Mia. Furthermore, Bloody Disgusting is reporting that Lily Collins (Mirror Mirror, The Blind Side) is in final negotiations for the role.
It appears that the only similarity between the original and the remake is the setup: five friends on a weekend retreat to a cabin in the woods come upon the Book of the Dead and are possessed by a horde of demons. The remake takes that premise in different directions — including making Mia a recovering drug addict who is attempting to detox.
While I still don’t know how this will eventually shake out, I do admire the fact that the filmmakers aren’t going the “safe” route and trying to cast someone like Ryan Reynolds as some kind of 21st century Ash. If only more studios that put remakes into production would similarly try to something new with the basic premises we’d probably get much more interesting remakes.
The Evil Dead remake is set for an April 2013 release from FilmDistrict and Ghost House Pictures.
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