Bloody Disgusting reports that not only have Ghost House and Mandate Pictures cast Lily Collins in Fede Alvarez’s remake of the classic The Evil Dead, but she will be the lead.
According to the source: “Mia is the LEAD, and is (sort of) the female version of Ashley J. Williams (Ash), once donned by Bruce Campbell in the original trilogy. To reveal more would ruin the movie.
In this version, the story centers on five friends (David, Natalie, Eric, Olivia, and Mia) holed up at a remote cabin where they discover a Book of the Dead with a demonic force unleashed possessing each until only one is left to fight for survival…there is a drug subplot“.
The original 1981 The Evil Dead, from director Sam Raimi, brought a fresh perspective and a whole bag of new tricks to the industry. On a budget of less than $375,000, Raimi and his troupe reworked his earlier Super 8 film Within the Woods over one-and-a-half years, with several actors leaving in the process. From these modest beginnings, Raimi would create a trilogy of films revered by lovers of cult horror and comedy, and show the beginnings of his path towards Hollywood success. It also made leading man Bruce Campbell a figure of cult royalty.
It sounds like this version of the film will be sufficiently different from the original classics, which understandably have fans in a twist at the very thought of tampering with their baby. With such a different take, and spam-in-a-cabin certainly not unique to The Evil Dead, why there was a need to use the name at all is beyond us. Still, colour us intrigued over this latest development.
The Evil Dead is due in cinemas on 12 April 2013.
