This week, director Fede Alvarez has been celebrating the ninth anniversary of his take on “Evil Dead” on social media. On Wednesday, the filmmaker shared a personal collection of Polaroid photos from the film’s set, but what came next was even more exciting; Alvarez treated fans to the film’s original ending and, on Thursday, shared the first draft of the original ending’s script.
In the original ending, Mia faced a similar fate to Bruce Campbell’s Ash in the original 1981 “Evil Dead” film and was taken by “the force.” While the ending was filmed, it was ultimately scrapped at the direction of “Evil Dead” creator Sam Raimi who told Alvarez, “after everything she’s been through, she deserves to live.” Alvarez rewrote the ending, allowing Mia to live, a deserving end for a character they put through hell.
Here it is. This is what was written originally. But Sam Raimi (wisely) pointed out “after everything she’s been through, she deserves to live” so I rewrote it to the actual ending. (@jcolburnlevy let out one of her best screams in the movie on this take) #EvilDead9years pic.twitter.com/q0PFWCT7Pw
— Fede Alvarez (@fedalvar) April 6, 2022
But if you thought the original ending would have been unfair, the script’s first draft for the end was even worse. Not only does “the force” overtake Mia, it completely destroys her, causing her to explode, leaving only the Book of the Dead. You can read the script shared by Alvarez below:
Here. I found the page from the first draft. There was a bit more action to follow the force catching up with her. #EvilDead9years pic.twitter.com/hJ7UAB6k4K
— Fede Alvarez (@fedalvar) April 6, 2022
