Romero's back from the DEAD

Director hatches fourth zombie film

By Patrick Sauriol     July 15, 2004
Source: Variety

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD director George Romero is back in business. After years of being stuck in development hell, Romero's fourth zombie apocalypse film has been given a greenlight and will begin shooting this fall under the title LAND OF THE DEAD. The legendary horror helmer that paved the way for such films as 28 DAYS LATER and this year's hit remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD will direct LAND OF THE DEAD from his own screenplay.

The movie is described as being as THE ROAD WARRIOR meets zombies, which is what was used to describe the project back when it was titled DEAD RECKONING. The story will continue to follow the aftermath of the resurrection of the dead, with the survivors in this film fortified inside a walled city that keeps out the zombies. The town's wealthy get to live inside sealed skyscrapers while the lower class have to fend for themselves on the streets. The principal characters are said to be city scavengers who have to try and prevent a plan that would throw the city into chaos and leave it vulnerable to attack. Meanwhile, the dead are starting to show strange abilities, seeming to evolve from slow and dumb into a more dangerous foe.

The movie will be produced by Mark Canton, Peter Grunwald and Bernie Goldmann, with Steve Barnett serving as executive producer. Variety pegs the budget as being somewhere under $20 million dollars, making it the highest budgeted DEAD film in Romero's history. The financing is coming from two film production companies, Atmosphere Entertainment and the French-based Wild Bunch. The production is eyeing filming either in Winnipeg, Canada or Pittsburgh, PA -- the site for Romero's first film, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.

"People ask me why I've waited so long to do another DEAD film," Romero is quoted as saying in Variety. "I made one in the '60s, one in the '70s and one in the '80s. The only reason I missed the '90s is because I wanted to stay faithful to the tradition while coming up with something new."


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