Highly inventive U.S. film director/producer/writer/actor Sam Raimi first came to the attention of film fans with the savage, yet darkly humorous, low-budget horror film, _The Evil Dead , which surpassed the original in box-office takings.
Attended Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, as an English major.
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen use many of Raimis trademark camera movements in their films.
Middle brother of Ted Raimi and Ivan Raimi.
During the mid-1980s, Raimi used to live in an apartment with actor Bruce Campbell , writer/director Scott Spiegel , writer/director Joel Coen , writer/producer Ethan Coen and actresses Holly Hunter , Frances McDormand and Kathy Bates.
His wife, Gillian Greene , is the daughter of Lorne Greene and Nancy Deale.
Is an avid fan of "Spider-Man" comic books.
Friends with director John Landis. Had cameos in Landis Spies Like Us and Innocent Blood , while Landis did cameos in Raimis Darkman and Spider-Man 2 . Both also appeared in Stephen King s ABC mini-series "The Stand" .
Many years before landing the role of director on the Spider-Man movies, Raimi planned to create a film based on Marvels comic interpretation of "The Mighty Thor" with Stan Lee. While the movie never materialized, Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man and many other Marvel characters, became good friends with Raimi and later appeared in cameos on the Spidey flicks.
In 2004, both he and the Coen brothers cast J.K. Simmons and Bruce Campbell in one of their movies; Spider-Man 2 and The Ladykillers .
His oldest brother, Sander, died in a swimming pool accident at the age of 15 while on a scholarship trip to Israel. Sander used to perform magic tricks for Sam and his friends; when he died, Sam learned to perform the tricks himself.
His family name was changed from the German name Reingewertz.
Featured on Premieres Power 50 list from 2003 to 2006 with the following rankings: #37 in 2003, #48 in 2004, #33 in 2005, and #23 in 2006.
He wanted to adapt and direct The Shadow , but was denied the rights to do it. Instead, he created his own superhero with his film Darkman .
His breakthrough project, the low-budget horror cult film The Evil Dead , had an estimated budget of $350,000. Twenty-five years later he helmed a production with an estimated budget at 1,000 times the cost of that film, Spider-Man 3 , with an estimated production cost of $350,000,000, making it the most expensive motion picture produced up to that time.
Graduate of Birmingham Groves High School in Birmingham, Michigan in 1977.
Attended high school and remains close friends with producer John Cameron and actor Bruce Campbell.
Children: Lorne Raimi , Henry Raimi , Emma Raimi , Dashiell William Schooley Raimi.
At college he ran a film society, but instead of renting films to exhibit he and his friends created their own feature-length movies on Super 8 and showed them to the campus audiences instead.
Frequently employs Bob Murawski as his editor.
Over his years as a director, Raimis 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 (originally bought by Raimis father for the family when Sam was 14) has "played" Ashs car in the Evil Dead movies, Uncle Ben and Aunt Mays car in the Spider-Man movies, Annies car in The Gift , and Mrs. Ganoushs car in Drag Me to Hell , and has made cameos in nearly all of his other movies.
The first director ever to do three live-action adaptations of a comic book character.
Directed one Oscar-nominated performance: Billy Bob Thornton in A Simple Plan .
He is of Hungarian Jewish and Russian Jewish descent.
Was considered to direct Batman Forever .
Was offered the chance to direct End of Days but turned it down.
Was considered to direct Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales .
Had expressed interest in and was actually set to direct Warcraft but dropped out.
Had expressed interest in directing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey .
Was considered to direct Planet of the Apes .
Was considered to direct Scream .
Born on the same day as Weird Al Yankovic.
That I can just perceive within the blackness. And it unnerves me in,the freakiest way! And in a completely different way than the,sledgehammer technique of some of our cruder American directors.
[pause] Such as myself!",I look at myself as an entertainer, more than anything else. I wanted to,make the movie a little more different than the previous films. . . .
That was less about me growing as a craftsman. That was more about me,trying to provide an element to the audience that I thought they might,need something different, that came from a different place.
The Dark Knight (2008) was brilliant, and the audience seemed to,love it, and I think it rightfully raises expectations for the other,superhero pictures, which is a great thing for everybody, for the,filmmakers, for the audience.
[on Crimewave (1985) ] I wanted it to be the ultimate picture of,entertainment. To thrill, chill, make the audience laugh, cry,scream. . . They screamed for their money back.
When we read stories of heroes, we identify with them. We take the journey with them. We see how the obstacles almost overcome them. We see how they grow as human beings or gain qualities or show great qualities of strength and courage and with them, we grow in some small way,When we read stories of heroes, we identify with them. We take the journey with them. We see how the obstacles almost overcome them. We see how they grow as human beings or gain qualities or show great qualities of strength and courage and with them, we grow in some small way.
Every picture has been a learning opportunity for me.
I realized what interested me as a student of film was one thing and the movies that I liked were another. .
