Twilight of the Dead is coming, and the long-promised last zombie movie to come from the mind of horror legend George A. Romero, who died in 2017, now has a director: Brad Anderson, whose genre bona fides include 2001 creepfest Session 9.
The Hollywood Reporter first announced the news, with this quote from Anderson conveying his enthusiasm for the gig: “George Romero’s 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead may have been the first real horror movie I ever saw and its shock value, its keen social relevance, and even the means by which it was made were all hugely inspirational to me. This too is a zombie movie in which limbs fly and heads roll, but one that is also about social transformation, one that asks the question: What is it to be human? It is also a horror movie with ‘heart’ and, dare I say, hope.”
Back in 2021, io9 interviewed Romero’s widow Suzanne Romero, and Twilight was one of the topics discussed. At the time, she said, “[The script] won’t leave my drawer until there’s a solid team that I feel comfortable with. I’m holding it very tight to my vest because I’m concerned it’ll be exploited. I’d like to keep my sovereignty with this project—it’s his last chapter and I want to make sure it’s done correctly. It’s nothing until it’s something, and I’m just not prepared to sell my soul for it, so it’ll stay tucked away until the right team comes along.”
Continuing, she said, “We need a director—maybe not a famous director, but someone who’s coming [up], who has the sensibilities but yet who will respect Romero but obviously it’s not Romero. Obviously, my dream would be to have it be directed by George, but that can’t happen. So it’s going to be interesting to see what happens. I did want to let people know that it existed, but as far as a plan, it’s gonna be in my drawer until somebody says ‘Trust me, I will do the right thing.’ I’m very protective so I will make sure that it’s done right.”
Anderson, who also has an extensive list of TV credits (recent entries include episodes of Peacemaker and Devil in Ohio), clearly must have fit the bill. There’s no word on when Twilight of the Dead—whose script comes from a treatment by Romero and Paolo Zelati, with the screenplay written by Zelati, Joe Knetter, and Robert Lucas—might be shambling into theaters, but the fact that a director has been hired signals that Romero’s final passion project is finally making progress.
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