Genre fans like myself have done a lot of groaning in recent days over the news that Hollywood — which lately seems to be more interested in leveraging recognizable brands (i.e., churning out new versions of properties whose names are already familiar to movie-goers) than in filming original screenplays — is forging ahead with a remake of Escape from New York and that Keanu will be playing Klaatu in a new version of The Day the Earth Stood Still. (Actually, he’ll probably be just fine in that role; he even has a passing resemblance to Michael Rennie. It’s just the principle of remaking an undisputed classic like Day that bothers me.) So it came as a pleasant surprise to read about an interview with the eternally awesome Bruce Campbell in which the Brucester puts to rest a number of rumors that have been causing me some concern:

• Campbell will not be reprising his role as Old Elvis/Sebastian Haff in a sequel to the charmingly goofy Bubba Ho-Tep. (The sequel — supposed to be called Bubba Nosferatu — may still go ahead without him, but I don’t see how anyone could hope to fill those porkchop sideburns the way Bruce did.)
• There will be no lame-ass mash-up of Freddy (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Jason (the Friday the 13th series), and Bruce’s signature character Ash (The Evil Dead trilogy).
• There will not be an Evil Dead 4. (Really, what could possibly be left to do after the utter silliness of Army of Darkness?)
• And finally — saving the best for last — there will be no remake of the original Evil Dead starring Ashton Kutcher as Ash. Said Campbell: “The feedback from the fans was 90 percent negative. It’s going nowhere.”

It’s nice to hear that, occasionally, rarely, common sense prevails…