Sam Raimi is stepping back into the horror fold with his new movie, one that has a unique elevator pitch: Stephen King’s Misery meets Cast Away. As per Deadline, Raimi – whose horror work stretches back decades to 1981’s The Evil Dead – will helm Send Help, a new “horror thriller” from 20th Century Studios.
Little is known about the project’s premise, only that it’s set on an island. Indeed, that’s led the outlet to state: “The story is said to fall somewhere between Rob Reiner’s Stephen King adaptation Misery and Robert Zemeckis’ classic Cast Away.”
Misery, the 1990 adaptation of Stephen King’s 1987 novel, revolves around the concept of a writer (James Caan) held hostage by his “number one fan” Annie (Kathy Bates). He is then tasked with rewriting the ending to a series of romance novels starring the character of Misery Chastain after Annie discovers she dies at the end.
Cast Away, directed by Robert Zemeckis, features Tom Hanks star as Chuck, a FedEx employee who finds himself stranded on a deserted island – with little more than a volleyball for company.
All in all, an intriguing premise for Raimi to work with – and one that sees Raimi return to the horror genre properly for the first time since 2009’s Drag Me to Hell. Raimi’s recent work included the horror-tinged Marvel sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which starred Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen.
Send Help is currently undated. For more, check out the new horror movies set to scare you silly in 2024 and beyond, plus our picks for the best horror movies ever made.
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Sam Raimi Returns to Horror After 15 Years With Cast Away-Inspired Send Help
Sam Raimi, horror mastermind behind Evil Dead, returns with Send Help, a genre-blending horror-thriller inspired by Misery and Cast Away.
Fans can expect Raimi’s signature blend of horror and comedy in this theatrical release, set on an island with script by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift.
As director and producer, Raimi’s influence on the horror genre is long-standing and highly anticipated for his upcoming film, Send Help.
Putting aside the horror elements of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Evil Dead and Drag Me to Hell mastermind Sam Raimi hasn’t helmed a horror film since that latter movie’s release in 2009. But, according to Deadline, that looks to change with his next film, Send Help, which is being described by its distributor, 20th Century Studios, as a horror-thriller. Raimi will reportedly take inspiration from two cinematic classics when crafting Send Help: the horror movie Misery and the survival drama Cast Away. Which, when combined, should result in something very special (and terrifying) indeed.
Raimi is well-versed in horror, making his feature-length debut with 1981’s classic The Evil Dead before following that brilliant nightmare with the lesser-seen Crimewave. Then, after crafting one of the best sequels of all time with Evil Dead II (which showed he could balance multiple genres in the same film), he helmed Darkman, which brings horror elements into the realm of superheroes, before returning to the Deadites with Army of Darkness. That trilogy-capper again showed his deft ability to blend genres, merging horror and comedy into a period piece action film.
Source: Deadline
