Evil Dead Rise Director Teases His ‘Wickedly Entertaining and Terrifying’ Next Movie (2024)

Evil Dead Rise director Lee Cronin has teased his next horror movie which is slated for release on April 17, 2026, but remains a mystery for now. Cronin’s take on the long-running franchise that was started by Sam Raimi back in 1981 went on to become the highest grossing entry in the series thus far, earning $147 million at the box office, and putting Cronin on the map as a horror director to watch. While he was previously tapped by New Line Cinema to direct the sea-faring horror movie Thaw shortly after Evil Dead Rise’s SXSW premiere last year, there’s been little news on the project, and now it seems as if his new film is taking precedence.

As per Deadline, Cronin will both write and direct the new horror film for Atomic Monster, Blumhouse, and New Line Cinema, with his own Doppelgängers banner also involved in the project, which appears to be an original idea, and not a remake, reboot, or reimagining of any current IP. The plot of the mysterious new horror film is being kept under wraps for now, but Cronin did share an image on social media of the screenplay’s cover page with the title blacked out. Check it out below.

In a statement released by Cronin, he says he’s “super excited” to be teaming up with Jason Blum’s production company, Blumhouse, and James Wan’s company, Atomic Monster, the two of which merged earlier this year to become one powerful horror factory.

“I am super excited to be gathering up my gang of oddballs from Doppelgängers to join forces with the overlords of horror at Blumhouse and Atomic Monster. Collaborating with Jason [Blum], James [Wan] and the wonderful teams from these two storied and massively successful organizations is what perfect nightmares are made of.”

He would go on to call the chance to work with New Line Cinema once more the “cherry on top” of the deal. New Line had a hand in producing Evil Dead Rise, which was distributed by Warner Bros., the same company that will also distribute his new film. Cronin finished off his statement by teasing his mystery film as something that will be “wickedly entertaining and terrifying.”

Jason Blum Calls Lee Cronin’s New Movie a "Modern Take on Something Quite Ancient"

While Blumhouse and Atomic Monster previously teamed up to produce the horror film M3GAN for Universal in 2023, their first joint release upon merging came by way of 2024’s Night Swim (also from Universal), which hit theaters on January 5 of this year, just days after the deal was finalized. With Lee Cronin now on board to write/direct a new original horror movie, this will mark the two companies' first joint venture to be released by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Jason Blum commented on the first, while also providing a bit more insight into what Cronin’s horror film could be about. He called the idea an “intriguing, modern take on something quite ancient.”

“Lee’s work is always fresh and surprising and he has an intriguing, modern take on something quite ancient that I think audiences will love. This also marks an exciting series of firsts for us: Atomic Monster and Blumhouse’s first time working with Lee and our first joint project for Warner Bros. We can’t wait to get started.”

There’s no word yet on when production for Lee Cronin’s yet-to-be-named horror movie will begin, but in the meantime, both Blumhouse and Atomic Monster have a slew of releases coming out before it releases in 2026, including M3GAN 2.0, Leah Whannel’s Wolf Man, Salem’s Lot on Max later this year, and the sequel to Emma Tammi’s smash hit, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.

Evil Dead Rise

Release Date

April 21, 2023

Director

Lee Cronin

Cast

Alyssa Sutherland , Lily Sullivan , Morgan Davies , Nell Fisher

Main Genre

Horror