Drag Me to Hell could be getting a sequel, Sam Raimi has teased. The film, which was originally released in 2009, was the Evil Dead director's return to the horror genre after leaving it behind to helm films like the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy, A Simple Plan, and For the Love of the Game. It followed a young banker (Alison Lohman) who is cursed by an old woman (Lorna Raver) when she refuses to offer her an extension on her mortgage. While she attempts to learn how to reverse the curse, she is haunted by a demon known as the Lamia.
Raimi recently participated in a Reddit AMA while promoting the new Adam Driver sci-fi film 65, which he produced.
One of the questions he was asked was if there would be a follow-up to Drag Me To Hell. The filmmaker revealed that a story is currently being developed by Ghost House Pictures' Romel Adam and Jose Canas and he's "anxious to hear" if they can "come up with a story that would work."
What Could Drag Me to Hell 2 Look Like?
There are two major factors that would make creating a Drag Me to Hell sequel challenging, beyond the huge time gap between its original release and now. The first is the film's notorious ending. The story concluded by making good on the promise of its title, revealing that Lohman's character didn't actually break the curse when she is literally dragged into Hell in typically brutal Sam Raimi fashion while waiting for a train to arrive.
The second issue is the fact that Lohman retired from acting in 2009. Since Drag Me to Hell, she has only appeared in small roles in three of her husband Mark Neveldine's films between 2015 and 2016. However, her retirement could square well with the fact that her character probably wouldn't be able to return in the first place.
The best route for a sequel to Drag Me to Hell would probably be to follow Lohman's character's boyfriend, who was played in the original film by Justin Long. Long recently scored a huge horror hit with the twisted 2022 thriller Barbarian, so he would both be a bankable name and probably be willing to return. If Raimi agreed to return to the director's chair, he could have a bona fide hit on his hands.
Source: Reddit