The Evil Dead franchise is going back further than it ever has before. Producer Robert Tapert has confirmed that Evil Dead Wrath, the next entry in Sam Raimi’s long-running horror series, is set in 1972 — nine years before the original 1981 film — making it the first true prequel the franchise has produced in over four decades.
“This is yet another great departure,” Tapert said at a recent appearance at Michigan State University. “It predates everything. It takes place in 1972.” The remarks officially place Wrath before Ash Williams ever set foot in that cabin.
The film follows a French woman trapped in a bad marriage in America. As the story develops, her husband emerges as likely abusive, and his family refuses to believe her — leaving her isolated and surrounded by hostile in-laws before the Deadites arrive. Tapert described the tone as a significant departure from what the franchise has attempted before, noting the film contains coming-of-age elements and a level of sexual content unusual for the series. He warned it may prove to be the franchise’s most difficult submission to the ratings board since the original.
Director Francis Galluppi and his cinematographer plan to recreate the visual texture of the era by shooting on Ektachrome 100, a warm, tungsten-toned film stock widely used in the early 1970s. “It will feel like a 1972 movie,” Tapert said.
Galluppi, whose debut feature The Last Stop in Yuma County impressed Raimi enough to earn him the job, leads a cast that includes Charlotte Hope, Jessica McNamee, Zach Gilford, Josh Helman, and Ella Newton. Principal photography ran from February through May 2026 in Auckland, New Zealand. New Line Cinema will distribute domestically through Warner Bros. Pictures, with Sony handling international territories.
Tapert drew a pointed contrast between Galluppi’s restrained, deliberate visual approach and that of Evil Dead Burn director Sébastien Vanicek, whose handheld style he described as “always moving, always shaking.” Galluppi, he said, shoots in a manner that is “very Tarantino-esque, very deliberate.”
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The two films represent back-to-back franchise entries with radically different sensibilities. Evil Dead Burn opens July 10, while Evil Dead Wrath is scheduled for April 7, 2028.
