Rob Tapert is a little sad about Ash vs Evil Dead’s fate
Rob Tapert made an appearance at Motor City Comic Con over the weekend with Lucy Lawless. When asked about returning to the Evil Dead universe, he had some interesting things to say about Ash vs Evil Dead.
“I am a little sad.” – Rob Tapert when asked about Ash vs Evil Dead’s cancellation
Revisiting the Not So Distant Past
This past weekend, Rob Tapert and Lucy Lawless were at Motor City Comic Con in Detroit. During a panel discussion, Tapert was asked by moderator Aaron Sagers if there is anything more from the Evil Dead universe that fans can expect such as other incarnations.
Both Rob and Lucy stated that they were sad over the cancellation of Ash vs Evil Dead. However, it didn’t come as a surprise. According to Tapert, courtesy of the AUSXIP Network on You Tube, “We knew going into the third season there was a chance that the ratings would be going down.”
He went on to say:
"“STARZ who had been a good partner with Spartacus and pretty much with picking up Ash and letting us do what we wanted… it was probably just not the right outlet for it. They waited until the ratings came in for the third season and they said no, this just wasn’t working for them.”"
In our coverage of the show over the past year at 1428 Elm, we had noted with the Lionsgate merger, the slate of programming was leaning higher brow with the addition of the limited series Howard’s End, more documentaries and shows such as Vida and Bittersweet. So, clearly Ash vs Evil Dead was the odd man out.
The former executive producer of AVED also stated that Netflix is out of the question for reviving the series because after selling the rights to the first two seasons to the streaming outlet, STARZ “won’t let a competitor have something, which I kind of understand and it’s unfortunate.”
So, It Has Come to This…Again
Invariably, the conversation turned to the Evil Dead movie that has been bandied about since 2013 when Collider talked about Sam Raimi resurrecting “Evil Dead 4.” We all know how Bruce Campbell feels.
Rob Tapert has a decidedly different outlook.“We had a great idea to where it (the franchise) was going to go in the future. It was something Sam had been talking about in rebooting the movie.” Tapert recounts that Campbell had told him and Sam that if “they don’t do it (renew AVED), I’m retiring from Ash.”
Segue to now and that’s where it stands on Bruce’s part. Rob has other ideas. “We’ll see. You can’t run a blade up and down a half mile of drive, he’ll get tired of it.” Lucy interjected jokingly, “He needs us.”
Everybody Be Cool!
More from Bruce Campbell
- Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell to guest star on A.P. Bio Season 4
- Bruce Campbell: Impact Wrestling wedding pays homage to Evil Dead 2
- Bruce Campbell: What is his connection to Impractical Jokers on Tru TV?
- Bruce Campbell: Last Fan Standing returns to Wizard World
- 31 Days of Halloween: Revisiting American Gothic with Bruce Campbell
Of course, this news will probably have fans jumping up and down thinking a movie is definitely in the works. Although Tapert states that he and Raimi are discussing what the next incarnation of the franchise could be, fans need to be cool.
It is about perspective. Even if Raimi has a script prepared, there will be the inevitable wooing of partners such as distributors, studios and other entities before production can even begin. It’s a process that takes time.
As for Bruce’s participation, that is entirely up to him. Right now, he appears to be wanting to conquer other horizons. Until then, fans can binge watch Ash vs Evil Dead on STARZ and Seasons 1 and 2 on Netflix as well as other platforms.
They can buy the DVDs and Blu-rays as well. For Bruce fans, you can catch him June 22 -23 at Fandemic in Sacramento. For more information, you can follow his events page at bruce-campbell.com. Also, stay tuned to his Twitter account @GroovyBruce and on Facebook.
He is also on Instagram as shemp_malone.
What do you think about Rob Tapert’s statements? Feel free to share your opinions in the comment section below. We want to hear from you.
Next: Bruce Campbell: If AVED is cancelled there won’t be a movie
Susan Leighton can be found on Twitter and Facebook @SusanontheLedge. She is also featured on Friday Night Tights, the ultimate pop culture wrap up show at Nerdrotic Podcast every Friday night at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT. You can catch her weekly coverage on IFC’s Brockmire at TV Series Hub.