Though he certainly had help along the way, George A. Romero remains the filmmaker most often credited with creating the modern zombie story thanks to his seminal 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead (now streaming on Peacock!). While he ventured into plenty of other horror subgenres over the course of his long career, Romero’s relationship with his “ghouls” never went away entirely, and he kept returning to the Dead franchise to craft new installments. Now, the last project in that long line has a new shot at life.
Deadline reports that Romero’s estate, led by his wife Suzanne, has partnered with producing and financing company Roundtable on Twilight of the Dead, the “last zombie movie” in Romero’s Living Dead saga, which comprises six films, a few remakes, a SYFY original series based on Day of the Dead, and more. Based on a treatment that Romero crafted before his death, the film will take the action to an island, where “the last humans on Earth” are “caught between factions of the undead.” As with all of his Dead films, and indeed all of his horror films in general, we can expect plenty of “sociopolitical commentary” alongside the horror.
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“I’m delighted to be joining forces with Roundtable to bring the eerie evolution of Romero’s universe to the screen,” Suzanne Romero said. “Roundtable impressed me with their long-term and deep love of George’s work. I believe they have the vision to produce the best version of this movie that honors the Romero legacy. I can’t wait to start filming!”
There’s no word yet on when production might begin (particularly amid ongoing strikes) or when the film will be released, but the move is a step in the right direction for a project that was first revealed back in 2021 and has since seen very little movement. Romero fans are, of course, no strangers to long waits between franchise installments, though. It was 10 years between Night of the Living Dead and the release of the first sequel, Dawn of the Dead, and 20 years between 1985’s Day of the Dead and 2005’s Land of the Dead. After that film, Romero dug in a little and gave us two sequels, Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead, in 2007 and 2009, respectively. The films stopped then, but Romero didn’t stop working. A novel chronicling a huge expanse of his zombie world, The Living Dead, was completed by horror author Daniel Kraus and released in 2020.
Now, we might finally see what Romero had in store for the conclusion to one of horror’s longest-running sagas. In the meantime, if you still haven’t seen these films, or you just want to rewatch them, it’s fairly easy to catch up. Night of the Living Dead, Day of the Dead, and Survival of the Dead are all streaming on Peacock, while Dawn of the Dead is lurking on Filmbox, Land of the Dead is on Starz, and Diary of the Dead is on Tubi.
