So after reading that during the 80's, Sam lost the rights to the original film and cannot use the original film's footage, so he had to re-shoot the beginning for the sequel.
Sam was the director of the original film, so technically, didn't he had the rights to the film, so did he sold the rights to New Line Cinema or something?
Because he had to enlist the help of SO many financial investors to produce the first film, the rights were a mess.
I'm straight up lovable, son.
He didn't lose the rights as he never had them to begin with.
The film was financed via several donations from local business owners (think of it as an early Kickstarter without the rules). So "technically" they owned the rights between them.
So when Sam made the sequel and wanted to use footage from the first film, he had to ask the various people that each owned a slice of the rights and most of them wanted money he did not have. So he reshot.
Now Sam owns the Evil Dead rights outright, but a the time he never had them no.
And so, God came forth and proclaimed widescreen is the best.
Sony 16:9