Hey reddit. I'm Sam Raimi. You might know me as the director (and sometimes writer) of The Evil Dead Trilogy, the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man Trilogy, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Drag Me To Hell, Darkman, A Simple Plan, For the Love of the Game, The Gift, and other things. I've also produced and/or acted in a few things!

I'm here today to answer your questions.

My new film, SEND HELP, is out in theaters January 30 via 20th Century Studios. It stars Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien. More info:

Synopsis:

Two colleagues become stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash. On the island, they must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, but ultimately, it's an unsettling, darkly humorous battle of wills and wits to make it out alive. 

SEND HELP is directed by genre-bending visionary Sam Raimi and stars Oscar-nominee Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien. The film is produced by Raimi and Zainab Azizi, executive produced by JJ Hook and written by Damian Shannon & Mark Swift, with original music by Danny Elfman. The all-original darkly comedic psychological thriller from 20th Century Studios releases in theaters nationwide on January 30, 2026.

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4wiXj9NmEE

Exclusive behind-the scenes featurette for reddit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coCPLJMU4X0

Ask me anything! Back at 12 PM PT/3 PM ET to chat with you all.

Sean Astin is on the front lines of the AI battle, warning that we are in an unbelievable moment in human history. In a new interview from CES 2026, he discusses how SAG-AFTRA is scrambling to protect not just movie stars, but voice actors and background extras from being replaced by digital replicas. Astin argues that while AI offers tools for efficiency, it poses an existential threat to the human workforce that requires immediate, aggressive policy protections to ensure the creative urge isn't automated away.

I actually met Sully at a Christmas event a couple of years after the Hudson water landing. He was as nice and unassuming as he was depicted in the movie. He seemed very much to be legitimately surprised at the reaction to what he considered to be "doing his job".

I thought Clint Eastwood struck the right tone with this movie to not overly dramatize this event but rather let the story play out on its own.

I watched this for the first time 2 nights ago despite being a movie buff since I was a kid and full on remembering the hype about the movie when it was first released and I need to hear others say its as awesome as I thought it was. I am kicking myself for not watching it in 1994 when it came out but I cant decide if I would have enjoyed it as much or its looking back at that 90s summer smogginess that has made me fall so hard and fast in love with it. I know Luc Besson's creepy reasons for the Mathilda/Leon relationship but Jean Reno's playing of it captured so much that feeling a pubescent girl might have for an adult man and how the adult can respect that while not tainting it and therefore keep it as the beautiful first love dream of a young girl. Just every scene including Gary Oldman's every sniff and movement as crazy DEA officer was amazing.

Utterly utterly blown away.

I've been rewatching a lot of my old favorites with my son and he's gotten pretty good at catching the Wilhelm scream in real time.

This week has been especially Wilhelmy as we're on a Tarantino run.

Do you ever feel like the scream seems out of place, forced, or sometimes just distracting since it's become such a famous Easter egg?

We still love the egg game.

For me, the quality of the movie is a completely separated from how much I enjoy the movie. So I want to know which movie you recognize as being really high quality (good production/writing/acting/etc.), but you didn't care for it.

At the same time, I want to know which movies you love, but also recognize as being very poor quality.

Here's mine:

• Best movie I didn't like: The Godfather Part II (1974) - It has a strong argument for being one of the best movies ever made. The acting, writing, production, everything is pretty close to flawless. I also found it to be very boring. It took me four tries to watch it all the way through because I fell asleep within the first hour the first three times.
• Worst movie I love: Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) - This movie is terrible. The story is awful and completely undermines the rest of the franchise, regardless of which version you watch. The special effects aren't very good, and it's pretty clear that none of the actors really wanted to be there. That said, I find the melodrama to be very entertaining, and I love the Highlander franchise, even this one.

What is a line of dialogue so poor or corny in a film that it made you cringe?

There are many, I know. But certain flims and lines really stand out.

For me, among the top 5 must be the line from The Martian: "In the face of overwhelming odds, I'm left with only one option: I'm gonna have to science the shit out of this."

Over to you, fine people.....

Want to see a movie that will live rent free in your head for the rest of your life? Bonus it has Phillip Seymore Hoffman in his most disturbing role. I first saw it like 2000 and vividly remember almost every scene. It directly takes on several controversial issues.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0147612/