The Legal Situation

During th eproduction of the movie there upfolded a legal battle in which AOD was caught up. It had nothing to do with the content of the movie or an infringement of any kind by the Renaissance team. This section will attempt to wrap up the main crux of the situation and explain exactly what went down. All information has been taken from other sources available on the Internet.

How it all began
Let's start by saying that the situation arose between the following parties:

• Dino DeLaurentiis, producer of AOD
• Tom Pollock, president of Universal Pictures, the movie's US distributor

Reason for the ensuing court struggle
Sam Raimi: "Dino DeLaurentiis , who had the sequel rights to Silence of the Lambs, had talked to [Universal head] Tom Pollock about doing a co-production on the sequel, with Universal releasing it in the States and Dino distributing it foreign, as they've done with other pictures. When Silence of the Lambs made it so big, and was such a huge financial success, Tom came back to Dino and said, 'Let's go with that deal we had.' I beleieve Dino said to Tom, 'We only talked about a deal. We don't have a deal.' Therein lay the crux of the probelm."

Consequences

• It delayed the release from autumn 1992 to January 1993. "The only thing they had in common [at that time] was Army of Darkness, so until they finally settled on the Lambs sequel, which they did, they were using Army of Darkness as something between a hostage and a bargaining chip; this delayed the release.", explained Raimi.
• It stopped any extra financial support from the studio, "...which I really needed."
• It prevented a preview of the movie to the public, "...which I also needed, I always count on not those cards, but just the audience reaction, in shaping a cut-they're not jumping here, that's not getting a laugh, let's sharpen it somehow."

Eventually the film was released in the US on January 15, 1993 to less than overwhelming critical acclaim. Fans of the previous films shunned it having turned the series into a slapstick mockery of the raw horror of the original.