Movies
Writer Roxanne Benjamin Updates on Orion’s ‘Night of the Comet’ Remake
As we learned back in October, Southbound and Body at Brighton Rock director Roxanne Benjamin was hired to script a remake of the 1984 horror-comedy Night of the Comet for Orion Pictures, her new take said to “skew horror-sci-fi rather than comedy.” Today brings an update via Benjamin himself, who lets us know that she has turned in the script.
Benjamin told MovieWeb, “I actually turned it in already. It’s already done. I like making girl buddy movies. I’m really drawn to female relationships and the complexity of female relationships, and how they change. And how their interactions can be both; we’re like terrible to each other and then we’re loving to each other at the same time. I don’t know. It’s very complex, female relationships throughout your life. So that’s just fascinating to me, in terms of how that works within a horror or genre setting, and I don’t feel like we get that much out of our genre.”
“It’s always, it’s the trope. It’s the final girl. It’s one girl on her own. Obviously [Body at Brighton Rock] has one girl, so I can’t knock those kinds of movies, but that relationship in a scenario of the end of the world is fascinating to me,” she continued. “And I love the movie, the first movie. There’s so many great one-liners in that movie. The visuals are amazing and for a B horror movie of the time…I’m always shocked when people don’t know about it, or haven’t heard of it. It’s very confusing to me because it’s like you said you’d never heard of Weekend at Bernie’s or something. I mean, most people have heard of that, right? It’s not just me. I’m very excited about the prospect of that becoming a real thing.”
Benjamin added that she’d love to direct the film, but that’s in Orion’s hands at this point.
The cult original, written and directed by Thom Eberhardt, followed two sisters facing off against cannibal zombies after a comet wipes out most of life on Earth.
Just three years after Evil Dead Rise set the box office on fire with a $147 million worldwide haul, Evil Dead Burn was unleashed into theaters this past weekend. Unfortunately, the opening weekend for Evil Dead Burn wasn’t quite as strong as the debut for its predecessor.
Evil Dead Burn debuted in 3,004 theaters across North America and scared up $13.7 million in its domestic debut, about $10 million less than Evil Dead Rise‘s $24.5 million opening.
Worldwide, Evil Dead Burn debuted with $25 million. Given the film’s production budget was somewhere in the ballpark of $20 million, all is certainly not lost for Evil Dead Burn. That said, Warner Bros. and New Line no doubt hoped that Burn would top or at least match the domestic opening of Rise, but instead we’re looking at a case of diminishing franchise returns.
The good news for fans? Next installment Evil Dead Wrath has already wrapped production for expected release in 2028, so there’s no danger of the franchise ending with Evil Dead Burn.
Evil Dead Wrath from director Francis Galluppi (The Last Stop in Yuma County) is currently set for theatrical release on April 7, 2028, though that could change in the coming months.
Will the Evil Dead franchise be taking a break after Evil Dead Wrath? That all depends on how Wrath performs at the box office. But for what it’s worth, the post-credits scene at the end of Evil Dead Burn suggests that the franchise’s creators are hopeful for a bright future ahead.
The critical reception for Evil Dead Burn was a bit less positive than the reception to Evil Dead Rise, with Rise hitting 85% on Rotten Tomatoes and Burn currently sitting at 71%. It’s interesting to note, however, that the “Popcornmeter” on Rotten Tomatoes is a bit higher for Burn than it was for Rise, with Burn‘s currently at 80% and Rise‘s sitting a tad lower at 76%.
The site’s “Popcornmeter” scores are decided by users, rather than verified movie critics.
Which do you prefer? Evil Dead Rise or Evil Dead Burn? Sound off below.
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