Warner Bros
When the “Evil Dead” franchise returned to our screens in 2013 after a two-decade hiatus, it came back with the first post-credits scene in the series, a bizarre cameo from Bruce Campbell reprising his iconic role as Ash Williams. Because of this, horror obsessives will once again wait until the very end of the credits for a similar tease in “Evil Dead Burn,” even though the previous film — 2023’s “Evil Dead Rise” – made fans wait around just to hear the sound effect of a buzzing fly, a callback to a recurring audio motif throughout the saga. This time around, there’s a lot more to wait for, as there is indeed a post-credits scene waiting for fans. We won’t reveal too much here, but we can say that it calls back to a previous entry in the franchise
If you’re thinking of making a quick bathroom trip during the credits and getting back to your seat in time for the post-credits scene, don’t rush out too fast, as there is also a very funny mid-credits scene which ties up the loose end of one “Burn” character’s fate in classic “Evil Dead” fashion; it’s very bloody and nastily hilarious. To say any more than that would reveal which characters have transformed into Deadites and who hasn’t made it out to the other side, but fans of the series owe it to themselves to wait around for this moment of jet-black splatter comedy, even if it doesn’t directly set up any future instalments in the franchise.
What’s next for Evil Dead?
Warner Bros. Pictures
We won’t dissect either the mid or the post-credits scenes here so as not to spoil them, but we can reveal that they don’t directly set up what’s coming in “Evil Dead Wrath,” which is currently scheduled to hit theaters on April 7, 2028. This may end up getting brought forward, as the three-month shoot wrapped in Auckland, New Zealand in May. The appetite is there for this franchise, as current box office tracking estimates have “Burn” opening between $30 and $40 million, an improvement on the $23.5 million opening for “Rise,” so Warner Bros. and New Line may decide to strike while the iron is hot and bring that date forward.
Little is known about the next movie other than that it’s a prequel. Producer Robert Tapert recently told Dread Central: “This is yet another great departure. It predates everything. It takes place in 1972.” In that same interview, he let slip that the movie is being designed to look like the exploitation movies of that era, saying: “It will feel like a 1972 movie because the director and his DP want to imitate the film’s look and feel of something that’s called Ektachrome 100, which was a film stock. Still available, but a film stock. A lot of movies [were] shot on that then.”
You should expect some controversy, as Tapert also revealed that the prequel will contain “a lot of coming-of-age sexual hijinks” and that he thinks “it’s going to be the one since the first ‘Evil Dead’ movie that may have the most difficulty with the MPAA.” The original film was famously banned and censored in several countries. While you wait for “Evil Dead Wrath,” why not check out some of the best ’70s horror movies that still hold up today to get yourself in the mood.