Bruce Campbell, the original star of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead horror series, announced in an interview with Empire that the next installment of the franchise would be called Evil Dead Now, and that Raimi has chosen Lee Cronin to serve as its director. While not nearly as well-known as Raimi, writer/director Cronin has been establishing himself as an indie force to be reckoned with in the last couple of years, making major waves with films like 2014’s short Ghost Train, and his 2019 feature, The Hole in the Ground. Both of these films operate in the same supernatural, ghastly vein as The Evil Dead, so its no surprise that Raimi saw Cronin, an Ireland native, as the right man for the job.

Campbell, who plays the chainsaw-handed horror protagonist Ash Williams, also announced that, similar to the 2013 remake of Evil Dead, he would not be acting in Evil Dead Now, and that it will feature another female lead. He failed to mention if he would return to the series as a producer, though, like he did on the reboot. Campbell did return as Ash for the Starz TV continuation Ash vs. Evil Dead, which was critically successful and ran for three seasons.

Hiring Cronin is an exciting step forward for the franchise, one that will hopefully bring the series even closer to its original, 1980’s sensational lore.