Rob Tapert's 'Evil Dead' NZ production company posts $49,000 profit for classic remake

Monday 4th November 2013

Rob Tapert, the American film maker husband of actress Lucy Lawless, said the New Zealand company formed to produce a remake of his 1981 horror classic Evil Dead posted a profit of $49,000 before being wound up.

Auckland-based New Pacific Renaissance, of which Tapert is the sole director, received a $2.3 million government grant to help make the movie, according to its accounts. The remake, filmed in Auckland, garnered US$26 million in its opening weekend in April, beating the re-release of Steven Spielberg's 1993 dinosaur blockbuster Jurassic Park, according to Reuters.

Tapert's company incurred film production costs of $20 million during the Jan. 4, 2012 to March 31, 2013 period covered by the accounts. The company received advances from its California-based parent Evil Dead LLC and in return sold its intellectual property and physical assets back to its parent for $17.8 million. The amount owing to Evil Dead LLC at March 31 of $2.9 million was expected to be repaid within 12 months, as the firm is wound down following the film's completion.

Tapert, 58, has made several television series in New Zealand, including Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, starring Lawless.

Tapert made the original movie with director Sam Raimi, who co-produced the remake. According to the Evil Dead wiki page had met Raimi through his brother, Ivan Raimi, who had been his roommate at Michigan State University.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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