Sam Raimi
Birthdate: Oct 23, 1959
Birthplace: Royal Oak, Michigan, USA
Almost a band name among fantasy and horror fans, filmmaker Sam Raimi (birthname: Samuel Marshall Raimi) has become synonymous with Spider-Man, which he has steered to three mega box-office hits in 2002, 2004, and 2007, which have grossed a combined $2.4 billion worldwide.
To the disappointment of his fan base, Raimi has made remarkably few movies as director and/or writer since Spider-Man 3, with only three features since 2007, including Doctor Strange in the Multiverse (2022) starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Rachel McAdams, and Patrick Stewart. But the Sam Raimi legacy is intact and enduring, extending to 1981 and the launch of a definitive cult series with The Evil Dead, starring Raimi regular (and high school classmate) Bruce Campbell.
Sam Raimi’s taste for blending comedy with horror was instantly apparent in The Evil Dead, and it’s the key to his success in this and the fantasy genres. From the first Evil Dead on through the finale, Army of Darkness (1992), Raimi displayed a showman’s talent for upping the ante both visually and in terms of startling, innovative effects.
A deep student of the visual pyrotechnics of director Martin Scorsese (including the signature whip-pan effect), Sam Raimi used bigger studio budgets for fine use in his imaginative and original superhero movie starring Liam Neeson, Darkman (1990), and collaborated with longtime friends Joel and Ethan Coen on the script for The Hudsucker Proxy (1994).
Sam Raimi took an extended break from his best genres during the 1990s (including the unexpected 1995 Western with Sharon Stone and Gene Hackman, The Quick, and the Dead), but returned with a flourish in 2002 with Spider-Man, still one of the most successful of all MCU movies with $825 million in worldwide receipts, topped only by Spider-Man 3’s $895 million global earnings.
The good-natured mood of the trilogy, starring Andrew Garfield, belied the massive budgets of the productions, climbing as high as one-third of a billion dollars. Raimi has devoted most of his filmmaking energies since the under-performing fantasy epic, Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), to produce, including the Don’t Breathe franchise, such as Don’t Breathe 2 (2021) and the 2022 revival, Evil Dead Rise.
Personal Details
Sam Raimi is a Michigan native, raised by parents Leonard Raimi and Celia Abrams. He has a sister, Andrea, and two brothers, actor/director/writer Ted and writer-producer Ivan. He lost his oldest brother, Sander, in a swimming accident at age 15. He graduated from Birmingham Groves High School in 1977. Raimi attended Michigan State University but soon dropped out to make his first feature, The Evil Dead. Since 1993, Sam Raimi has been married to director-producer Gillian Greene; the couple has five children. His height is 5’ 11”.
Filmography
actor
Previous (2)
- 2022 | Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Doctor Strange teams up with a mysterious teenage girl from his dreams who can travel across multiverses, to battle multiple threats, including other-universe versions of himself, which threaten to wipe out millions across the mul...
- 2013 | Oz the Great and Powerful
Oz the Great and Powerful
A frustrated circus magician from Kansas is transported to a magical land called Oz, where he will have to fulfill a prophecy to become the king, and release the land from the Wicked Witches using his great (but fake) powers.
director
Previous (1)
- 2002 | Spider-Man
Spider-Man
After being bitten by a genetically-modified spider, a shy teenager gains spider-like abilities that he uses to fight injustice as a masked superhero and face a vengeful enemy.
Some Facts About Sam Raimi
Auto-extra: Sam Raimi has used his 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 as an extra on screen in several of his movies, including his Evil Dead and Spider-Man movies.
Big Bucks: At the time of its production in 2006-2007, Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 was the costliest movie ever made, with an estimated budget of $350 million.
Roommate Dream Team: Sam Raimi’s fellow apartment roommates in the mid-1980s included filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen and actors Kathy Bates, Frances McDormand and Holly Hunter.
