Evil Dead Rise is the fifth film in the beloved Evil Dead franchise, and by all accounts it will be the most expensive film yet in Sam Raimi’s cult-horror series, begging the question of how much it needs to make at the box office. What remains to be seen is whether writer-director Lee Cronin’s reboot can not only live up to its lofty budget but also become the highest-grossing film in the franchise’s history.
The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness all had famously small budgets, with The Evil Dead being produced for just $375,000. Critics and viewers alike know that part of the magic of the franchise’s first three films is their gritty, gory, low-budget feel, and it certainly made it easy to justify making each sequel knowing how low a bar they needed to clear to turn a profit. The 2013 reboot/sequel Evil Dead (2013) earned a much larger budget ($17 million), with Raimi and original star Bruce Campbell in the producer’s chairs. TriStar and Sony were rewarded with a box office gross of $97 million, which certainly played a role in the budget for Evil Dead Rise. While no specific budget has been released yet, there is plenty of reason to believe this will be both the franchise’s most expensive film and its most profitable.
Evil Dead Rise’s Budget Is Likely Around $20 Million
While the film doesn’t hit theaters until April 21st, 2023, early reviews indicate that Evil Dead Rise has significantly more gore, action, makeup and special effects work than its predecessors; director Lee Cronin himself said that over 6,500 liters of fake blood were used in the production. It stands to reason that ratcheting up the action and horror elements would result in a much larger budget. Given that Evil Dead (2013) had a budget of only $17 million, Evil Dead Rise should easily surpass it.
However, many of the budget-friendly elements that made the early films successful are still in place, like the relatively small cast and use of one primary location. Part of the charm of the franchise is that earthly, low-budget atmosphere, so it seems unlikely that Cronin would depart too much from the successes of its predecessors. A reasonable estimate would be around $20 million by the end of the promotion cycle of the movie. That is still a relatively small number in the modern cinematic landscape, and Evil Dead Rise will still need to perform well to be considered a success.
Evil Dead Rise Needs At Least $50 Million At The Box Office To Succeed
It’s almost a foregone conclusion that Evil Dead Rise will be profitable, especially given the fact that early Evil Dead Rise reviews are almost entirely positive. Early word-of-mouth, a built-in cult audience, and the goodwill generated from audiences should ensure that the sequel at least matches the opening weekend that Evil Dead (2013) produced, which finished at $25.8 million domestically. Given the prevalence of those early reviews, it seems likely that Evil Dead Rise will surpass the 2013 reboot on opening weekend and overall at the box office, making it the highest-grossing film in the franchise.
Given that the Evil Dead (2013) finished with almost $100 million at the box office, the latest installment in the Evil Dead franchise should be poised to crack at least $110 million, with a more optimistic estimate landing it around $130 million. With Sam Raimi and cult horror icon Bruce Campbell attached, Evil Dead Rise should be the most profitable movie in the franchise by a fair margin, despite it having the highest budget.
