His films are known for their highly dynamic visual style, inspired by comic books and slapstick comedy.[4][5] He founded the production company Renaissance Pictures in 1979 and Ghost House Pictures in 2002. Raimi has also produced several successful television series, including Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, its spin-off Xena: Warrior Princess and Ash vs Evil Dead starring long time friend and collaborator Bruce Campbell reprising his role in the Evil Dead franchise.
Early life
Raimi was born in Royal Oak, Michigan,[2] to a Conservative Jewish family.[6] He is a son of merchants Celia Barbara (née Abrams) and Leonard Ronald Raimi.[3] His ancestors were Jewish immigrants from Russia and Hungary.[7] His younger brother Ted is an actor,[8] and his older brother Ivan is a screenwriter and physician.[7] His older sister, Andrea Raimi Rubin, is a court reporter.[9] Another older brother, Sander, died at 15 in an accidental drowning in Israel; Raimi has said that the trauma knitted the remaining family closer together and "colored everything he's done for the rest of his life".[10] Raimi also mentioned that Sander first introduced him to Spider-Man, igniting his love for comics.[11]
Raimi became fascinated with making films when his father brought a movie camera home one day. He began to make Super 8 movies with his friend Bruce Campbell, whom he met in 1975. In college, he teamed up with his brother's roommate Robert Tapert and Campbell to shoot Within the Woods (1978), a 32-minute horror film which raised $375,000, as well as his debut feature film It's Murder!. During that time, he also shot the seven-minute short film Clockwork (1978), starring Scott Spiegel (who had appeared in Within the Woods) and Cheryl Guttridge.[15][16] Through family, friends, and a network of investors, Raimi was able to finance production of the highly successful horror filmThe Evil Dead (1981), which became a cult hit and effectively launched Raimi's career.[17]
He began work on his third film Crimewave (1985), which he co-wrote with the then-unknown Coen brothers, shortly after.[18] Intended as a live-action comic book, the film was unsuccessful, partly due to unwanted studio intervention. Raimi then returned to the horror genre with the seminal Evil Dead II (which added slapstick humor to the over the top horror, showcasing his love of the Three Stooges). With his brother Ivan Raimi (and crediting himself as Celia Abrams), Sam Raimi also wrote Easy Wheels (1989), which parodied the Outlaw biker film genre. A long-time comic book buff, he then attempted to adapt "The Shadow" into a movie, but was unable to secure the rights, so he created his own super-hero, Darkman (1990). The film was his first major studio picture, and was commercially successful, spawning two sequels. Through it he was still able to secure funding for Evil Dead III, which was retitled Army of Darkness and largely steered away from horror towards fantasy and comedy elements. Army of Darkness, the final movie in the Evil Dead trilogy, commercially underperformed, yet on video became a cult classic.
Raimi achieved great critical and commercial success with the blockbusterSpider-Man (2002), which was adapted from the comic book series of the same name. The movie grossed over US$800 million worldwide, spawning two sequels: Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3, both directed by Raimi and each grossing approximately $800 million. After the completion of the third Spider-Man film, he planned on producing two more sequels (although Sony Pictures planned three sequels) but could not find a satisfactory script.[19] In 2022, reflecting on Spider-Man 3, Raimi told Rolling Stone: "It was a very painful experience for me. I wanted to make a Spider-Man movie to redeem myself for that. [The aborted] Spider-Man 4 — that was really what that was about. I wanted to go out on a high note. I didn't want to just make another one that pretty much worked. I had a really high standard in my mind. And I didn't think I could get that script to the level that I was hoping for by that start date."[11] He, along with Marc Webb, were both brought on as creative consultants for Marvel Studios'Spider-Man: No Way Home, directed by Jon Watts.[20]
Raimi frequently collaborates with Joel and Ethan Coen, beginning when Joel was one of the editors of Evil Dead.[21] The Coens co-wrote Crimewave and The Hudsucker Proxy with Raimi in the mid-1980s (though Hudsucker was not produced for almost a decade). Raimi made cameo appearances in Miller's Crossing, The Hudsucker Proxy, and with Joel Coen in Spies Like Us. The Coen brothers gave Raimi advice on shooting in snow for A Simple Plan, based on their experiences with Fargo.[22]
He worked in front of the camera in The Stand as a dimwitted hitman, John Carpenter's Body Bags as a murdered gas station attendant, and Indian Summer in what is perhaps his biggest role as a bumbling assistant to Alan Arkin. The film was written by his childhood friend, writer-director Mike Binder, and shot at the camp that they both attended when they were younger. Raimi also produced the entire English-language The Grudge franchise, based on the original Japanese films.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Raimi had expressed an interest in directing a film version of The Hobbit, the prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.[23] In 2008, Guillermo del Toro was selected as the director, with Peter Jackson as the executive producer. Raimi may direct By Any Means Necessary, the next film based on the "Jack Ryan" CIA character created by Tom Clancy for Paramount Pictures. Disney also approached him to direct W.I.T.C.H.: The Movie, based on the popular comic.
Blizzard Entertainment announced on July 22, 2009, that Raimi would be directing a film adaptation of the Warcraft video game series,[24] but at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that he would not be the director.[25]
On September 23, 2009, he became the producer for the British supernaturalthrillerRefuge, which is directed by Corin Hardy and published by Mandate Pictures.[26] He will produce the remake of the Danish thriller The Substitute, which will be directed by Scott Derrickson under his new label Spooky Pictures.[27] Raimi produced with his company Ghost House Pictures the British thriller flick Burst 3D, directed by Neil Marshall.[28]
On December 11, 2006, the website SuperHero Hype reported that director Sam Raimi and Michael Uslan would co-produce a new film version of The Shadow for Columbia Pictures.[33] On October 16, 2007, Raimi stated that: "I don't have any news on The Shadow at this time, except that the company that I have with Josh Donen, my producing partner, we've got the rights to The Shadow. I love the character very much and we're trying to work on a story that'll do justice to the character."[34][35]
Raimi, along with Bruce Campbell and Rob Tapert, produced the remake of Raimi's The Evil Dead. First-time feature filmmaker Fede Álvarez wrote and directed, and Diablo Cody was also brought in to revise/rewrite the script.[36] Raimi confirmed plans to write Evil Dead 4 with his brother; it was later specified that this film would be Army of Darkness 2.[37] Álvarez revealed that Raimi would direct the sequel to Army of Darkness.[38] However, in a 2014 interview, Bruce Campbell announced that Army of Darkness 2 is not happening, saying "It's all internet b.s. There's no reality whatsoever. These random comments slip out of either my mouth, or Sam Raimi's mouth, next thing you know, we're making a sequel."[39]
On February 26, 2016, it was confirmed that Raimi is attached to direct the upcoming film World War 3 for Warner Bros. The film will be based on a possible future inspired by the book The Next 100 Years by George Friedman.[40]
On February 16, 2017, it was reported that Raimi will be directing a thriller about the Bermuda Triangle for Skydance Media, with the script being written by Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard.[41]
On February 5, 2020, it was announced that Raimi was in talks with Marvel Studios to direct Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,[43] and Raimi confirmed his involvement in April 2020.[44] This marked Raimi's return to the superhero film genre after more than 15 years following Spider-Man 3 in 2007 and his first feature film directorial effort since 2013's Oz the Great and Powerful.[45]
Since 1993, Raimi has been married to Gillian Greene, daughter of Canadian actor Lorne Greene. They have five children; their three eldest, daughter Emma Rose and sons Lorne and Henry, appeared as extras in Drag Me to Hell and during the final battle in Spider-Man 3.[48] Lorne also contributed as one of many second unit directors on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
^ ab"Sam Raimi Biography (1959-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved March 19, 2012. Source notes Raimi born "in Royal Oak (some sources cite Franklin), MI."
^ abAushenker, Michael (April 25, 2002). "Spider-Mensch: The Jewish roots of director Sam Raimi and 'Spider-Man'". Jewish Journal. Archived from the original on December 8, 2012. Retrieved March 19, 2012. He was raised by parents of Russian and Hungarian Jewish descent in a Conservative Jewish home that included older brother Ivan, now a screenwriter and physician; younger brother Ted, an actor, and older sister, Andrea.
^"Sam Raimi: Man behind the mask". The Independent. UK. July 15, 2004. Archived from the original on August 6, 2017. Retrieved November 23, 2020. Led by their father, who ran a furniture store, and mother, who owned a lingerie shop, the family became very close after Raimi's elder brother Sander drowned in a swimming pool at the age of 15. Raimi has said of that trauma: 'It colours everything you do for the rest of your life.'
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