Source: Variety | Posted By: Dan Geer

It has been a while since PCM’s last update on director Fede Alvarez’s remake of The Evil Dead, mainly because there really hasn’t been a whole lot to report on. Until today, the only real interesting update to give was that actress Lily Collins (star of the upcoming Snow White film Mirror, Mirror) was originally cast recently as the female lead in the film, but unfortunately had to drop out due to scheduling issues. But today, we get a nice little tidbit from Variety that Red Riding Hood star Shiloh Fernandez has officially landed the male lead in the remake. Read on for more!

Variety reports that the plot will be much like the original 1981 film, featuring a group of teenagers who venture to a cabin in the woods and discover an ancient book that unleashes an evil force that will stop at nothing to swallow their souls. However, this new take on the cult classic will not feature the memorable character of Ash – the main character in the original Evil Dead trilogy portrayed by Bruce Campbell. Fernandez will be playing an entirely new male lead.

It seems like the project is in good hands, with original Evil Dead director Sam Raimi on board as producer, along with original producing partners Bruce Campbell and Rob Tapert. Screenwriter Diablo Cody, who was hired to rework the script, has even described the story as “unbelievably violent” and “really scary.”

Even though it is disappointing that this is not a sequel to the original films with Campbell returning as Ash, it will be interesting to see if this new film will be able to deliver something new and fresh while still satisfying fans of the original Evil Dead trilogy. It looks like they are off to a good start anyway, since they chose not to recast the role of Ash (we all know that Bruce Campbell absolutely owns that role).

Head on over to Variety for the full article!