Its a New ‘Day’ for Raimi

From zombies to man-spiders to really hairy ghosts, Sam Raimi knows how to entertain.  And its usually in threes, as the helmer directed the The Evil Dead and Spiderman trios and served as producer for The Grudge series (the third of which is due out in 2009).  But Raimi will take on a more somber topic with his next project, The Given Day.  According to Variety, he will reunite with Columbia for this adaptation of an upcoming novel by Dennis Lehane, to be released by HarperCollins on September 23.  A very different turn for Raimi, the film will be a historical drama, set in 1919 Boston as soldiers are returning from WWI, bringing the Spanish influenza with them.

Lehane also penned the novels which Clint Eastwood‘s Mystic River and Ben Affleck‘s Gone Baby Gone were based off of.  Martin Scorsese is nearing wraps on another adaption of a Lehane novel, Shutter Island, starring Scorsese’s latest muse, Leonardo DiCaprio.  As with Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone and quite possibly Shutter Island, cinematic adaptations of the author’s work have the tendency to hit the big screen with critical success.   So don’t be surprised if Raimi’s pic brings one of the least expected directors to the Oscars.

In addition to eyeing a forth installment on the Spiderman series, Raimi is set as producer of a remake of the cult classic that launched his career, The Evil Dead, due out in 2009.  The helmer is currently lensing the horror pic Drag Me to Hell, starring Justin Long, Jessica Lucas (Cloverfield) and Alison Lohman (Delirious).