If George A. Romero’s legacy of zombie nightmares has taught us anything, it’s that the dead rarely stay dead. Before he died in 2017, Romero wanted to conclude the Living Dead saga he started in 1968, which launched the modern zombie movie genre and began his series of influential horror classics. Now, the final movie is closer than ever to hitting the screen. Per Deadline, Twilight Of The Dead has wrapped filming, which is either good news or bad, depending on how you feel about someone other than Romero continuing his decades-spanning zombie narrative.
In 2017, Romero began working on a treatment for Twilight Of The Dead with Paolo Zelati, an Italian film critic with only one writing credit to his name, per IMDB, a segment in the 2013 anthology The Profane Exhibit. After Romero’s death, the director’s widow, Suzanne Romero, gave Zelati her “full blessing as long as [she] could be there every step of the way for it to remain true to George’s vision,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021.
The film is described as a direct sequel to Land Of The Dead, leapfrogging Romero’s final two zombie movies, 2007’s Diary Of The Dead and 2009’s Survival Of The Dead. “Everything started with my question to him: ‘Where do the zombies go at the end of Land Of The Dead?’” Zaleti said. The film’s vague logline doesn’t answer the question: “The story is set in a decimated world. Life has all but disappeared. But there still may be hope for humanity.”
Originally to be directed by Session 9 filmmaker Brad Anderson, the film was delayed by the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, which led to some major behind-the-scenes shake-ups. After Milla Jovovich exited the project, fellow action-horror mainstay Kate Beckinsale stepped in to star opposite Betty Gabriel, best known as Georgina, the housekeeper, from Get Out. The Israeli filmmakers Paz Brothers stepped in after original Anderson left the project. The only name Dead fans may recognize from the series is longtime horror makeup maestro Greg Nicotero, who worked on Day Of The Dead and won two Emmys for The Walking Dead.
Even with Nicotero aboard, Twilight looks like a no-win situation. Romero’s work has been emulated and imitated for nearly 60 years. It’s a risk to conclude his most famous and lauded series with a group of filmmakers few have heard of, one that will likely be an uphill lurch for audiences.
Keep scrolling for more great stories.