One Scene Was All It Took: Sam Raimi and Rachel McAdams Reunite After Doctor Strange 2

Sometimes one scene is all it takes. For Sam Raimi, a chaotic, late-in-the-game sequence on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was the moment he decided he needed to team up with Rachel McAdams again. Cut to now: they reunited on his new movie, Send Help.

The Doctor Strange 2 moment that sealed it

Raimi told Entertainment Weekly that his lightbulb moment came during the part of Doctor Strange 2 where Benedict Cumberbatch's Stephen tries to dreamwalk into a darker version of himself, Sinister Strange. That dabbling with dark magic unleashes a swarm of specters, and they go straight for McAdams's character, Christine Palmer.

Here is the wrinkle: that whole ghost attack on Christine? It was a reshoot. As in, added later. Raimi says he went to McAdams and basically had to break the news that they were dropping a full-on supernatural beatdown on her character. Instead of balking, she jumped in.

'Okay, what do we do?'

'I thought, I'm gonna work with this person again.'

Why Raimi was so taken with her

Raimi is a guy who speaks fluent horror, and he says McAdams brought so much energy and credibility to that added action beat that it made the whole sequence click. Yes, there were top-tier animators punching in the ghosts later, but her performance gave the visual effects something real to lock onto. That combination sold the scene for him, and he walked away convinced they should collaborate again.

Cut to: Send Help

That decision led straight to Send Help, Raimi's latest feature. McAdams stars as a Planning & Strategy Department employee who ends up stranded on a remote island with her brand-new CEO. It is a clean, high-concept setup with Raimi mischief written all over it. And if you want to see what that Doctor Strange spark led to, Send Help is now playing in theaters.