Now that the Sam Raimi-produced remake of his The Evil Dead was an R-rated hit, what comes next? The sequel, presumably, and then maybe that long-gestured fourth Evil Dead, tentatively titled Army of Darkness 2.

But what happens when Raimi has laser focus? Remember when he wanted to make Drag Me To Hell? A preposterous movie pitch that somehow got made – and it was awesome. Now, we’re hearing that Raimi is “determined” to get Army of Darkness 2 off the ground… and maybe even before that Evil Dead sequel.

Tonight Universal Studios Hollywood and Orlando celebrate the opening of their annual Halloween Horror Nights. While we have stringers at both events, Evan Dickson is standing on the red carpet hoping to land some juicy horror nuggets. This one is a whopper.

Before we get to the scoop, Bruce Campbell, who starred as Ash in Army of Darkness and produced the remake, says they still have to figure out what direction to go: “We have to figure out what we want to do,” he said, “because this wasn’t a huge long term 18 movie plan, you know what I mean? These sequels – remakes, sequels, whatever you want to call them – come out of nowhere.”

As for what actually comes next, here’s the skinny – Fede Alvarez, who directed the remake, seems to imply that Raimi is more focused on Army of Darkness 2 than Evil Dead 2. In fact, Raimi is already writing it! “The pressure is on them now. Because as far as I know, and heard, Sam is really determined to get Army Of Darkness 2 happening,” he revealed exclusively to Bloody. “He is actually writing [it now].”

This should be huge news for fans of the original trilogy as the implication is that Army of Darkness 2 may actually come next. Maybe we’re reading way into it, but that’s definitely how it sounded to me…

What do you want to see first? AD2 or ED2?