Summary

• Sam Raimi is returning to horror directing with Send Help.
• 20th Century Studios has signed Raimi to produce and direct the movie, which is described as a "two-hander horror-thriller" in the vein of Misery and Cast Away.
• The project not only comes after Raimi's return to the director's chair following a near-decade hiatus with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but also the first horror movie he's helmed since 2009's Drag Me To Hell.

Having recently made his directorial return with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the Evil Dead franchise, though would later expand his genre horizons with everything from the Western thriller The Quick and the Dead to the sports drama For Love of the Game. His most notable non-horror work has been in the superhero genre, having helmed the Tobey Maguire-led Spider-Man trilogy, as well as cult classic original creation Darkman and Doctor Strange sequels.

Deadline has brought word that Raimi has signed a deal with 20th Century Studios to both produce and direct a new horror-thriller entitled Send Help. Sources report that the movie is "a two-hander horror-thriller set on an island", with comparisons made to both Rob Reiner's Misery and the Tom Hanks-led survival drama Cast Away. Though the studio reportedly has yet to greenlight the project, the deal does establish it being Raimi's first directorial horror movie in 15 years since Drag Me to Hell.

Send Help Could Be Big Hit (Especially Since Raimi Never Fully Left Horror)

Following his success with Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, Raimi has only returned to the horror genre in the director's chair on a handful of occasions, including the 2009 hit Drag Me to Hell, for which he's reportedly considering a sequel, and helming the series premiere of Ash vs. Evil Dead, which he also co-developed. He did also co-write and direct the first three parts of 50 States of Fright for Quibi, but the majority of his time in the director's chair has been spent on major blockbusters, including Oz the Great and Powerful and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

But even with very few horror directorial efforts in the past decade, part of why Send Help could be a major horror hit is that Raimi never technically left the genre. The iconic filmmaker has two different production houses under his belt, Ghost House Pictures and Raimi Productions, both of which have primarily focused on producing horror titles, including America's English-language Grudge movies, both Don't Breathe movies and the creature thriller Crawl.

Interestingly, Raimi's Ghost House Productions was behind 2013's Evil Dead rebootquel, while he was only onboard as an executive producer for 2023's Evil Dead Rise.

Given even the likes of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have shown how Raimi has not fully lost his sense of horror even in alternate genres, Send Help is sure to be a welcome return for him to his original genre. Additionally, with the script coming from Freddy vs. Jason and Friday the 13th reboot duo, Mark Swift and Damian Shannon, both of which were well received by their respective fanbases, their partnership with the horror icon could make for a thrilling twist on the stranded island formula.

Source: Deadline