Filming begins for Starz's Ash vs. The Evil Dead

After greenlighting the project late last year, the Starz network announced today that production has officially begun on Ash vs. The Evil Dead in New Zealand. Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness star Bruce Campbell is reprising his role as S-Mart clerk-turned-demon-slayer Ash, and series creator Sam Raimi is directing the first episode.

Set 30 years after the events of the previous films (keeping in mind Evil Dead 2 was more or less a remake of the original ), Ash is set to confront a new plague of Deadites, the dark undead force released by the Necronomicon. Per Starz, "When a Deadite plague threatens to destroy all of mankind, Ash is finally forced to face his demons — personal and literal. Destiny, it turns out, has no plans to release the unlikely hero from its 'Evil' grip."

Campbell is set to star opposite Lucy Lawless, Ray Santiago, Pablo Simon Bolivar, Dana Delorenzo and Amanda Fisher in 10 half-hour episodes slated to premiere this fall.