Xixax Film Forum

The Director's Chair => The Director's Chair => Topic started by: socketlevel on December 13, 2003, 05:17:23 PM

Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: socketlevel on December 13, 2003, 05:17:23 PM
Last i heard was some interviews on the anchor bay day of the dead disc and i think roger avery even knew a little about it.  does anyone know what's what?
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: MacGuffin on December 13, 2003, 05:24:05 PM
Filming: There is no production start date for this project, and it might not even be Romero's next. So, depending upon what he ends up on working next, this could start filming anytime, or many, many years from now. Romero has at least two other projects that are just as likely to be filmed next: The Assassination and Stephen King's The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. Filming would most likely be done in Pittsburgh, where the other three films were also produced. The budget will be $10 million.
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(8/24/02) This was previously mentioned as being released by Anchor Bay Entertainment release, which traditionally handles mostly just video releases, but Romero announced at Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors last week that Fox has come aboard instead. The difference is that Anchor Bay was willing to give Romero a budget of $3-4 million, while Fox is willing to pony up the full $10 million he wants to make the movie his way (which is still pretty cheap in the grand scale of Hollywood budgets). (1/16/03) AICN reports that Fox has dropped out of this project, with director Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Blade II) now helping Romero find financing and distribution. (3/7/03) The budget that Fox actually offered Romero was $7.5 million, and that it was actually Fox Television Studios that wanted to produce it (for FOX TV?). The deal would have allowed Romero to have all the gore he wanted on the eventual DVD, but he withdrew because he wanted this to be a theatrical release, and that's what he's continuing to look for to this day.
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: socketlevel on December 13, 2003, 06:08:17 PM
cool, i'm glad romero is sticking to his guns.  all the other films he made in this saga seemed to be on his terms and maybe that's why he left resident evil.  we wouldn't want it to end up looking like that piece of shit.  i'm also glad del toro is helping him out not that shitty paul anderson.  mind you i don't like del toro all that much either but for some reason i stil respect him.  i just hope romero will shot the film in his style and write the script his way.  i don't want a "contemporary" take on the films, i just want a romero film.
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: Pubrick on December 13, 2003, 10:59:30 PM
even tho this is a DVD question, i guess u inadvertantly created a George Romero thread. i'll rename it so that ppl (like me) don't think it's about the movie Romero, and in the wrong section.

welcome to xax.
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: analogzombie on December 16, 2003, 08:10:00 PM
I heard his next project is directing a movie about a zombie rock band called "Diamond Dead". I think he is just being hired to direct and his input in minimal as far as story goes. www.diamonddead.com

I hope the rash of zombie mania leads to someone giving him money for a 4th dead film. I know he is in talks with FOX and that John Carpenter has offered to put up the cash if that deal falls through, on one condition though, that Carpenter get to score it. there seems to be some validity to this since FOX has purchased a tentative website for the film. see where this takes you: www.deadreckoningmovie.com
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: socketlevel on December 17, 2003, 01:35:19 AM
sounds cool, carpenter owned the eighties when no one else was releasing anything good!  he is so underapreciated.  though, it is too bad his last four films sucked big time shit,  but oh well...  that was the ninties.

thanks for that new info, if carpenter and del toro are helping out then there is a good chance this shit will fly.  i went to that site you posted and it directed me to the LXG site.  lol, that movie is leaps and bounds behind what i'm expecting in dead reckoning.  do they think the same crowd would be into this?

-sl-

p.s. this diamond dead thing sounds stupid.  what do you think analog?  sounds like your a zombie fan.
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: analogzombie on December 17, 2003, 02:52:36 PM
I think the LXG redirect is some kind of default goto page since there is no site for Dead Reckoning yet. But it is interesting that it takes you to a FOX site.

Yeah I think the Diamond Dead things sounds suck ass. I mean I'm not really a fan of zombie comedy to begin with. The first Return of the Living Dead is okay, but I like zombie films that take the threat seriously. I mean, it is a horrifyingly scary proposition: that the dead are returning to life as zombies. IMO only Romero has ever treated this subject correctly. Boyle did an awesome job with 28DL, but it's an unconventional zombie movie, since they aren't exactly zombies. It's more of a modern homage to the zombie genre. at any rate I think we'll get to see another serious zombie horror film from Romero, its just a question of when. But I don't think Diamond Dead is it, that's for sure. I mean zombies and rock n' roll were already combined extremely well in Wild Zero. Let's hope its a pit stop on the way to a 4th Dead film.

btw I am soooo dissapointed in the dawn of the Dead re-make. Running zombies(?), smart zombies (?), zombies in the womb (?), it's not a Lucio Fulci movie for god's sake, it's Romero. I think Roger Avary's comments about the re-make on the Day of the dead COmmentary are very telling of what we can expect. :(
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: Slick Shoes on December 17, 2003, 04:24:51 PM
Martin is soooo good if your into that sorta thing.
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: socketlevel on December 17, 2003, 11:56:16 PM
yeah man i agree with the dawn of the dead comment.  man, the original is so fucking amazing; it's on my top ten for sure.  why should they remake it to begin with?  it's sad to say that it has to do with 28 days later and its success.  i really liked that film (which is pretty much a remake of the entire romero dead films to date with a splash of something new).  the new dawn is going to be gentrified garbage with the original message removed.  i know i'll see it, but regret doing so.  i have little hope.

i also agree with the avery insights.  avery was talking about the blue face for sure.  that's a staple in "dawn."  i think romero was right in keeping with the blue face even when savani wanted to go more realistic.  The comic book feel is key.  with the remake, the studio execs had such a passe reaction to the blue face, like "we're living in more technical advanced times and the digital zombies will look fucking amazing!!!" is so discouraging.  they're thinking they're making a great film because it'll look "cool" instead of actually being cool.  this backed by ultra extreme angles and some MTV editor on an Avid suite listening to some shitty band like "lincon park" while cutting the film.  it is this trend in cinema that will ruin the remakes' integrity.  it's too bad...

oh well, i guess we still have the original and now that anchor bay is still going to release the box set i'm as happy as a pig in shit.

back to reckoning: i wonder what romero will bash with the new film; what way he'll attack the contemporary frame of mind and political state.  that's the beauty of his films, they attract the political, youthful and cine geek personalities inside of me.  there was something magical about romero and carpenter in the eighties and maybe if carpenter does the score they'll both be able to rehash their former glory and make a balls out serious zombie flick.

-sl-
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: analogzombie on December 22, 2003, 05:44:53 PM
I am kind of curious as to what sort of commentary Romero might attach to another zombie film as well. From all the talk it seems to be a film that takes aspects of the original script for Day of the Dead and expands it. Namely a last human outpost that is trying to ignore the zombie problem and just get on with life. At some point they create a zombie army a la Bub, to fight the uncontrolled zombies. It could have an amazing battle of zombies vs zombies (maybe to rival the MInas Tiras attack in ROtk!, i jest). but it sounds like it could be awesome. I wish he would just get on it, cuz i have a feeling if he doesn't do it soon, it'll never happen.
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: socketlevel on December 30, 2003, 03:29:39 PM
for sure, that sounds amazing.  i've heard that too but it was from avery so maybe that was his interpretation or dreams of what a fourth film would look like (or am i totaly wrong and you by chance have happened to read a spec script?  tell me how i can read it if you have)

i remember romero once talking about how the dead have pretty much decomposed and all you have to do is step on them to kill the corpses.  if this is the case, then the other zombi vs. zombie scenerio seems unlikely.  either way i'm happy, the army zombie type battles apeals to my geek side and the decrepid zombie story sounds interesting because i wouldn't know what to expect.

i fear it not happening as well.  but now that the word is these other influential filmmakers are supporting it gives me more hope to its belated arival.

-sl-
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: analogzombie on January 02, 2004, 01:58:39 PM
Looks like Diamond Dead's website has been re-vamped a little. I still don't know about this one, but it seems Romero was brought in to polish the script as well as direct. the music is being done by the people who diod Rocky Horror.

Also, this is on Anchor Bay's website now:
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.anchorbayentertainment.com%2Fimages%2Fnumber2.gif&hash=8a33d0db3c9835b8bd9f5814ac16eea1d6f12e2c)
i am so excited i can't contain myself! I know the first DVD release is just going to be a single disc but it's a whole new transfer and I missed out on buying the old DVD so I am very happy!!!  :-D
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: socketlevel on January 05, 2004, 05:34:06 AM
yeah that sounds promising.  i myself missed out on those two dawn dvd releases by anchor bay and now i can sink my teeth into them.  i hope they still do the tripple disc treatment however.  i want to see the argento cut and the alternate ending.

the "in the future" part of anchor bay's site is a sham,  they're trying to tell people that it's coming back soon but i don't buy it for a second.  i even emailed them and then they quickly threw up that bs.  they're going broke and trying to not let the word on the street.  at least not to their devote consumers.

-sl-
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: MacGuffin on May 13, 2004, 02:30:32 PM
Laura Dern Joining Fanning in Tom Gordon
Source: Production Weekly

Laura Dern is joining Dakota Fanning in the adaptation of Stephen King's novel The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, reports Production Weekly. The film will be directed by Night of the Living Dead helmer George Romero.

The book begins with nine-year-old Trisha McFarland (Fanning) taking a six-mile hike on the Maine-New Hampshire branch of the Appalachian Trail. She quickly tires of the constant bickering between her older brother, Pete, and her recently divorced mother. But when she wanders off by herself, and then tries to catch up by attempting a shortcut, she becomes lost in a wilderness maze full of peril and terror.

As night falls, Trisha has only her ingenuity as a defense against the elements, and only her courage and faith to withstand her mounting fears. For solace she tunes her Walkman to broadcasts of Boston Red Sox baseball games and follows the gritty performances of her hero, relief pitcher Tom Gordon. And when her radio's reception begins to fade, Trisha imagines that Tom Gordon is with her -- protecting her from an all-too-real enemy who has left a trail of slaughtered animals and mangled trees in the dense, dark woods.

Romero will likely first shoot the black comedy Diamond Dead this summer in Pittsburgh.
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: cine on May 17, 2004, 07:10:09 AM
Paramount Remaking Romero's The Crazies
Source: Variety

Paramount Pictures is remaking George Romero's horror-thriller The Crazies, with Michael Aguilar and Dean Georgaris to produce at their Penn Station production company.

The project will update the storyline of the original, in which inhabitants of a small Pennsylvania town are beset by death and insanity after a plane crash lets loose a secret biological weapon into the water supply.

The original was released in 1972, four years after Romero's debut with Night of the Living Dead.
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: grand theft sparrow on May 17, 2004, 11:19:38 AM
Well as long as other people get to make George Romero films...  :roll:
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: ElPandaRoyal on May 17, 2004, 12:11:37 PM
Yeah, the "deal" now is to remake Romero to earn some bucks...
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: grand theft sparrow on May 17, 2004, 12:41:58 PM
If the writers and directors of these remakes really had any kind of respect for the man, they'd donate a portion of their paychecks to getting Dead Reckoning made. I suspect that ought to include Danny Boyle and Alex Garland, but since 28 Days Later was shot on the (relatively speaking) cheap, they don't have to kick in as much.
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: modage on July 15, 2004, 04:13:47 PM
George Romero Set for Land of the Dead
Source: Variety Thursday, July 15, 2004

George Romero is set to direct Land of the Dead, a horror film that picks up on the zombie saga he hatched with Night of the Living Dead and continued with Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. Variety says the film, from Romero's own script, will begin production in October in Winnipeg or Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh was the site of shooting for Romero's original 1968 zombie trilogy.

In the film, the zombies having taken over the world and those left alive are confined to a walled-in city that keeps out the corpse corps. Anarchy rules the streets, with the wealthy insulated and living in fortified skyscrapers.

The drama revolves around a group of scavengers who must thwart an attempt to overthrow the city while the dead are evolving from brainless slow-moving creatures into more advanced creatures.

Romero had been developing Diamond Dead, a black comedy musical that's being produced by Scott Free and Andrew Gaty, and he also scripted an adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, which he may direct for Canadian financier Don Archibald and Lions Gate.
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: MacGuffin on September 24, 2004, 12:41:11 AM
Leguizamo, Hopper to Play 'Dead' for Romero
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Simon Baker, John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper are off to "The Land of the Dead," George A. Romero's return to the zombie genre that he made famous.

Asia Argento and Robert Joy also are joining the cast.

Written and directed by Romero, the story takes place in a world overrun by zombies where the human survivors live in a walled city. While the zombies are evolving, certain factions seek to overthrow the city.

The film is meant to complement Romero's earlier zombie movies, "Night of the Living Dead," "Dawn of the Dead" and "Day of the Dead," and to start a new line of zombie films.

Universal Pictures is distributing domestically and internationally. The European-based Wild Bunch, which is co-producing, is handling the film in France, Benelux and French-speaking Switzerland. The production is scheduled to begin shooting Oct. 11 in Toronto.

Mark Canton, who is producing through his Atmosphere MM shingle, said the film also will feature cameos.

"A lot of people revere George, and fellow directors and actors are calling to see if they can be zombies. I think it's a testament to George and the genre that he created," Canton said.

Baker will next be seen in "The Ring 2."

Leguizamo, shooting "The Honeymooners," next can be seen in "Assault on Precinct 13."
Title: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: socketlevel on May 17, 2005, 12:33:27 AM
is anyone else happier than a pig is shit for this business?

http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/landofthedead/

-sl-
Title: Re: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: MacGuffin on November 08, 2005, 08:13:06 PM
Romero Driving Buick 8
Living Dead director helming King novel flick.

Night of the Living Dead director George A. Romero has signed a deal with newly-formed production company Chesapeake Films to helm a movie adaptation of Stephen King's novel From a Buick 8, according to today's Variety.

The novel, published in 2002, is the story of a man who, following the death of his police officer father in a tragic accident, discovers a secret that members of Pennsylvania State Patrol's Troop D have long kept hidden behind their headquarters. The man encounters his father's friends and colleagues who take turns relating the twenty-year history of the mysterious Buick Roadmaster locked in Shed B and how its discovery and unexplained behavior has captivated the tightly knit group of men for two decades. The Buick seems to be a conduit to another reality and every now and then it breathes, inhaling a little bit of this world, exhaling a little bit of whatever world it came from.

It's more like King's The Green Mile than his earlier automobile-centric work Christine, which was also turned into a film.

The script for From a Buick 8 was penned by Johnathon Schaech and Richard Chizmar, principles at Chesapeake Films.

Romero, whose work was last seen in theaters with Land of the Dead, is currently in production on Diamond Dead, the story of a young woman who must kill 365 people with the help of a rock band that she accidentally killed and brought back to life. He's also linked to another Stephen King adaptation, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.
Title: Re: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: MacGuffin on August 07, 2006, 12:10:48 AM
Double duty for Romero on 'Solitary'
Source: Hollywood Reporter

George A. Romero has signed to write and direct the thriller "Solitary Isle" for Ashok Amritraj's Hyde Park Entertainment and Kadokawa Pictures.

The film, based on a short story by Koji Suzuki ("The Ring," "Dark Water"), marks the first project in a 50-50 joint venture between Hyde Park and Kadokawa in which they will co-finance horror-thriller films in the under-$25 million range. "Solitary" likely will be distributed by 20th Century Fox, where Hyde Park has its first-look deal. Hyde Park International will handle foreign.

The story chronicles an expedition to a deserted island that turns deadly as the explorers face an unknown force.

Amritraj is producing alongside Kadokawa's Jennie Lew Tugend, Lauren Weissman and Shinya Egawa. Romero's partner Peter Grunwald also is producing. Patrick Aiello is shepherding the project for Hyde Park.

Los Angeles-based Kadokawa Pictures is a sister company of Japan's Kadokawa Shoten Publishing, which boasts a vast library of film-friendly horror novels and short stories, including "The Ring," "Dark Water" and "Solitary Isle." The production division is producing and financing the Edward Burns-Shannyn Sossamon starrer "One Missed Call," a remake of the 2003 Japanese film.

"Part of Hyde Park's strategy is to partner with major conglomerates, and I am happy to be in business with Kadokawa," Amritraj said. "We hope this will be the first of many movies we'll make together."

Hyde Park signed a five-year, first-look production and distribution deal with Fox in July 2005.

Horrormeister Romero, whose credits include the seminal zombie thrillers "Night of the Living Dead" and "Dawn of the Dead," most recently wrote and helmed last year's "Land of the Dead."
Title: Re: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: MacGuffin on August 24, 2006, 11:08:35 PM
Horror veteran Romero returns to "Dead" zone

The dead are rising again. Horror maven George A. Romero has signed on to write and direct "George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead," following in the tradition of his 1968 cult classic "Night of the Living Dead."

With a story mixing elements of "The Blair Witch Project" and the long-running "Dead" series, the film will follow a group of college students shooting a horror movie in the woods who stumble upon a real zombie uprising. When the onslaught begins, they seize the moment as any good film students would, capturing the undead in a "cinema verite" style that causes more than the usual production headaches.

After going more than two decades without making an independently financed zombie film, Romero told his production partner Peter Grunwald he was frustrated working within the system. "I was trying to convince Peter we could just run off and do it ourselves," he said.

Instead they convinced Artfire Films to finance the under-$5 million project, enough to work with union crew members who've been longtime friends.

Romero's new script replaces the original's static-filled radio with new technologies like smartphones to inform characters of impending doom. But fans can expect the classic Romero style.

"It has my sensibility, my sense of socioeconomic satire," he said. "And it has my zombies! They're not rushing around -- they're gonna be moving slow." Added Grunwald, "There'll be a lot of howling."

The film's four-week shoot is scheduled to begin October 11 in Toronto.

"Dead" is just the latest in a series of films with a recurring theme for Romero, including 1978's "Dawn of the Dead," 1985's "Day of the Dead" and 2005's "Land of the Dead." His other credits include 1982's "Creepshow," 1973's "The Crazies" and the 1974 TV documentary "O.J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose."
Title: Re: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: children with angels on August 25, 2006, 07:18:52 AM
It's like he's making up for lost time and catching up on the self-conscious/postmodern horror phenomenon in the mid 90s that he missed out on whilst on sabbatical...
Title: Re: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: MacGuffin on September 01, 2006, 11:15:40 AM
Exclusive Interview: PRODUCER JOHN HARRISON TALKS TO iF ABOUT ROMERO'S DIARY OF THE DEAD -- PART 1
iF has the first word on the new George A. Romero zombie movie that returns to the original roots of the zombie genre. 

John Harrison is man of many talents and his career shows it. His early work was on zombie movies with George A. Romero as both an assistant director and composer. Then more recently there are the critically acclaimed DUNE and CHILDREN OF DUNE mini-series that Harrison wrote, produced and directed for SCI FI Channel. Now Harrison is going back where it pretty much all started. His newest project is the much-anticipated new Romero zombie flick, DIARY OF THE DEAD. iF MAGAZINE is one of the first to talk to Harrison about what we can all expect from the new Romero social commentary horror flick.

iF MAGAZINE: Your next project is a new zombie film with George A. Romero, correct?

JOHN HARRISON: We're going to start a film in October; actually we're staring pre-production over Labor Day for a new zombie film from George [Romero] called DIARY OF THE DEAD. It's a terrific new script that George has written, and I will be producing. We worked together on developing this with his partner Peter Gruenwald. Over the past couple of years, we've been trying to come up with an idea that a television approach might be kind of cool, but some people have come along and want to finance a theatrical movie so that's what we're doing.

iF: The blurb in Variety said it's people making a zombie movie, but while they are filming real zombies attack them?

HARRISON: That's right. It's about a bunch of students who are making their senior project. To some extent it's George revisiting the origins of the Zombie mythology. This is NOT a sequel to any of the other DEAD movies. He's essentially going back to first principles if you will. It's about a group of college students making this movie, and suddenly they are attacked, the world starts to crumble around them, and as they are trying desperately to get to their homes together, they continue to have these horrific experiences. They continue to document everything that happens to them as they go, and thus, THE DIARY OF THE DEAD. It's a very good script. As someone who has been involved with George for years, the script is just fantastic. It's got all of his humor and all of his social commentary and obviously some really great scares.

iF: So he's probably returning to his roots, instead of doing another big studio picture like he did with LAND OF THE DEAD?

HARRISON: No doubt. It's not autobiographical, I would hesitate to say that, but I would say that it is very much in a sense, you could stretch it and say that the kids in the woods making a movie is very much a metaphor for what it was like when he was in the 'Burg. It's similar to when George [John] Russo, [Bill] Heinzman, and all those guys got together and made the first NIGHT. He definitely wants that energy and that style and that camaraderie and the way of doing it going back to the independent way of doing a movie.

iF: I know you were involved with the first two CREEPSHOW films as well as the DEAD movies with George. Do you have any involvement in the new re-makes of some of those films or CREEPSHOW 3?

HARRISON: I haven't been involved in any of the subsequent sequels to any of the DEAD movies. They're doing a remake of DAY OF THE DEAD, and they have a couple of other DAY OF THE DEAD subtitled films, none of us have been involved with those movies. A company called United Film Distribution (UFD) owned the rights to those movies and when that company went out of business they sold the rights to another company owned by the Dudelson Brothers and those are the guys who have been re-inventing these movies. We haven't been involved in any of them.
Title: Re: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: cron on September 03, 2006, 11:54:46 AM
Quote from: MacGuffin on September 01, 2006, 11:15:40 AM
iF: So he's probably returning to his roots, instead of doing another big studio picture like he did with LAND OF THE DEAD?

HARRISON: No doubt. It's not autobiographical


¿?
Title: Re: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: MacGuffin on October 18, 2006, 12:30:06 PM
Romero's Diary of the Dead Still on Track

Arrow in the Head, and several other sites reported on October 5 that George Romero, the 66 year old auteur behind Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, The Crazies and several other damn fine terror flicks, had collapsed and been hospitalized for a non life threatening illness. As a result, Romero had to cancel several personal appearances and shooting of his new zombie film Diary of the Dead was to be delayed by at least two months. However, a new report from Dread Central says the film is still on track with Romero at the helm and will probably have begun production by the time you read this.

This new film is said to be something of a cross between a standard Romero zombie film and The Blair Witch Project: While making a low budget horror film, several young filmmakers find themselves in the midst of a real zombie outbreak. The crew proceed to record the event for posterity, taking themselves into the thick of the zombie action. As the director told Dread Central when the project was first announced, "I want to do this from a subjective kind of view with no music. You know, something really raw. So it's kind of a stylistic experiment, a low-budget, under the radar kind of thing that's just sort of from the heart." There has been some talk that this film might go straight to DVD, and although that might carry a certain stigma, I think that might be gutsy move on the part of Romero and his distributors. This way he could make as gory a film as he wants, and it's kind of reminiscent of Romero and company's decision to circumvent the MPAA by releasing Dawn of the Dead unrated.
Title: Re: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: MacGuffin on October 31, 2007, 01:52:54 AM
Another entry set for 'Diary of Dead'
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Although "George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead" won't be released until next year, Artfire Films and Romero-Grunwald Prods. have greenlighted a sequel that Romero will direct from his screenplay.

The instant sequel, which will be offered at the American Film Market, will pick up where the first film ends. Fighting their way out of a mansion through a horde of ravenous zombies, the survivors of "Diary" escape to a remote island only to be plunged into another battle with the dead.

Principal photography is set to begin in the spring.

Romero-Grunwald's Peter Grunwald will produce with Artfire Films' Artur Spigel and Ara Katz. Dan Fireman of Artfire and Sam Englebardt will serve as executive producers. Voltage Pictures and Cinetic Media will oversee foreign and domestic sales, respectively, for the Artfire/RGP alliance.

"Diary" premiered at September's Toronto International Film Festival, where Cinetic sold North American and Mexican rights to the Weinstein Co.
Title: Re: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: MacGuffin on May 19, 2008, 01:24:56 AM
'Dawn of the Dead' goes 3-D
Romero's 1978 film adds dimension for theaters
Source: Hollywood Reporter

George A. Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" will be "dimensionalized" to stereoscopic 3-D for a planned theatrical release.

New Amsterdam Entertainment has tapped 3-D company In-Three, which will use its proprietary "dimensionalization" process to turn the 1978 indie horror flick movie into 3-D. The project is expected to be completed within the year.

So far the only legacy 2-D film that has been converted and re-released in digital 3-D is "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas," which Disney released in October 2006 in 168 theaters, grossing $8.7 million. Disney reissued the film in October and plans to repeat this year and in 2009.

There are slightly more than 1,000 3-D-ready digital screens in the domestic market, and that number is expected to grow.

In-Three uses patented software tools and techniques to create a second camera image from a 2-D image. Each frame is "dimensionalized," meaning that all objects are moved forward or backward from the screen or in relation to one another so as to achieve the desired dramatic effect.

In-Three "dimensionalized" the "Star Wars" 3-D demo clip that first screened at ShoWest in 2005.

Conversion of legacy material using the process starts at about $50,000 per minute and can reach more than $100,000, depending on the complexity of the imagery in terms of visual effects and other elements.

"We are seeing interest now that people realize there will be sufficient screens to justify the cost," In-Three's Neil Feldman said.
Title: Re: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: MacGuffin on October 03, 2008, 12:19:32 AM
Romero rises again for zombie film
Untitled thriller has already started shooting
Source: Variety

Director George Romero is beginning production on an untitled thriller. Once again, the antagonists are flesh-eating zombies.Romero first mined zombies with "Night of the Living Dead" and has been cannibalizing the genre since, most recently with "Diary of the Dead."

Romero wrote the new film and began shooting this week in Ontario.

Plot involves inhabitants of an isolated island off the North American coast who find their relatives rising from the dead to eat their kin. The leaders of the island feud over whether or not to kill their reanimated relatives or preserve them in hopes of finding a cure.

Cast includes Alan Van Sprang, Kenneth Welsh, Kathleen Munroe, Devon Bostick, Richard Fitzpatrick, Stefano Colacitti and Athena Karkanis.

Paula Devonshire is producing. Romero is exec producer along with Peter Grunwald, D.J. Carson and Artfire Films' Ara Katz, Art Spigel and Dan Fireman. Voltage Pictures is handling international sales, and Cinetic Media will sell domestic.
Title: Re: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: MacGuffin on September 09, 2009, 10:46:34 AM
Zombie master Romero's film targets discrimination

VENICE (Reuters) - Zombie master George A. Romero had no particular conflict in mind when making "Survival of the Dead," the sixth installment in his long-running horror franchise, but rather discrimination in general.

More than 40 years after "Night of the Living Dead" launched Romero's career in 1968, the 69-year-old American is back to his independent movie making roots with a picture in competition at the Venice film festival.

The self-financed Survival of the Dead tells the story of a band of soldiers lured to an island that promises to be the one place on earth where they can escape from the living dead, who feed on human flesh and appear as if from nowhere.

But they become embroiled in a generations-old dispute between two families who have radically different ideas on how to contain the zombies.

Patrick O'Flynn wants to put a bullet through the head of every zombie he can find, while his arch rival, Shamus Muldoon, wants to keep the "dead" alive in the hope of finding a cure.

"I wasn't looking at Iraq and saying, well, lets make a movie about Iraq," Romero told reporters on Wednesday.

"It's much more about man's underlying inability to forget enmity, forget their enemies even long after they've forgotten what started the conflict in the first place.

"I think that part of the problem is that nobody looks at both sides of any issue, it's automatically: I'm on this side or I'm on that side."

RETURN TO INDEPENDENT ROOTS

According to production notes for the film, Survival of the Dead is the second movie in Romero's new cycle of independent pictures made outside the studio system.

"We've made a couple of studio films and it's just a very different process," Romero said.

"These last two films, it's really like going back to the very original films that I made where it was really private financing and real guerrilla-style film making."

Night of the Living Dead was reportedly made on a shoestring budget yet came to redefine the horror genre with its violence and satirical view of American society.

"I've had the flexibility in these films to do whatever I wanted to do. At least there's no policeman looking over your shoulder ... There's no committee. That's a wonderful freedom to be able to have."

Romero credited the zombie's lasting cultural impact more to video games, like the Resident Evil series, than to his movies. "It's really not the zombie films. I think ... it's much more video games that have kept them alive."

Variety's review on the movie from Venice was largely negative, saying it was "steeped in fan-pleasing gore but woefully thin on ideas, originality ... or directorial flair. This is easily the least frightening of all the Dead movies."
Title: Re: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: MacGuffin on December 12, 2009, 12:17:30 AM
U.S. zombie fans to be denied Romero's latest?
Source: SciFi Wire

So, in a world in which Zombieland grosses $75 million in the U.S. alone and zombie-themed video games generate entire industries, when the animated Resident Evil: Degeneration gets a pretty healthy release on DVD and Blu-ray, why can't George Romero, the guy who created the apocalyptic flesh-eating zombie genre in 1968 with his Night of the Living Dead, not even get a DVD release in the U.S. for his latest zombie movie, Survival of the Dead?

According to Dread Central, a DVD release of Romero's Survival of the Dead is available for pre-order in the U.K., with a street date of March 15, 2010. This is a neck-chomping bummer for fans in the U.S. Given all the truly wretched, eye-meltingly bad movies that go right to DVD, isn't Romero worthy of at least that kind of release here on these shores?

As we reported in July, Survival of the Dead (which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival) concerns people who try to keep their recently deceased loved ones at home so they can lead some sort of normal "lives" until a cure for the zombie infection can be found. Given Romero's talent for social satire, this looks pretty tasty to us.

Given Romero's fan base, wouldn't even a no-frills DVD release of Survival of the Dead be worthwhile?
Title: Re: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: socketlevel on December 12, 2009, 11:07:28 PM
what's wrong with our world, the bad guys are winning.
Title: Re: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: matt35mm on December 13, 2009, 01:51:02 PM
It's our fault for letting them have all the money and all the guns.
Title: Re: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: MacGuffin on May 17, 2010, 12:35:16 AM
Romero remaking Argento's 'Red' in 3D
Director revisits classic horror pic
Source: Variety

Get ready for "Deep Red" in 3D -- not by Dario Argento but from George A. Romero.

Romero is in advanced negotiations to helm a stereoscopic remake in English of Argento's cult classic, according to sources.

The 1975 "Deep Red," about a string of supernatural splatter murders, is considered Argento's gem giallo and the film that established his international standing.

The Romero-helmed 3D "Deep Red" redo is being set up as an Italo-Canadian co-production by Italian producer Claudio Argento via his Opera Film shingle. Robbie Little's The Little Company is preselling the pic in Cannes.

Claudio Argento, who is Dario's brother and regular producer, has penned the screenplay for Romero's redo.

Plan is to start shooting this fall in Canada.

Though Dario Argento and George Romero go back a long way -- he collaborated with Romero on zombie classic "Dawn of the Dead," on which he has producer credit, and they also co-directed "Two Evil Eyes" in 1990 -- Dario Argento will not be involved in Romero's remake in any guise.
Title: Re: George Romero ( + Dead Reckoning)
Post by: Ravi on November 13, 2018, 07:08:42 PM
https://www.list.co.uk/article/105123-lost-george-a-romero-film-found/?fbclid=IwAR1pTZLuxkESs-euakzowJtSAaM3N7eGmFjp8HA3Sat7Ov0MUMrjdrms2fs

Lost George A. Romero film found
Bang Showbiz
13 November 2018

'The Amusement Park', a long lost film by George A. Romero, has been discovered and a campaign is underway to restore it for release

A long lost movie by the late George A. Romero has been discovered and a campaign is underway to restore the missing masterpiece.

The screenwriter-and-director – who passed away in July at the age of 77 – created some of the most revered horror films of all time starting with 'Night of the Living Dead' in 1968 but now a little known movie he released in 1973 called 'The Amusement Park' has been found.

Author Daniel Kraus discovered the missing movie – which is not listed on Romero's IMDB page amongst his credits – and after watching what he describes as Romero's "most overtly horrifying film" he has started a funding page in conjunction with the George A. Romero Foundation to raise enough money to restore it for a release.

In a series of Twitter posts which began with Kraus sitting down to view the movie, he wrote: "I'm about to watch George A. Romero's virtually unseen 1973 movie THE AMUSEMENT PARK (shot between Season of the Witch & The Crazies). Been trying to find this for 20 years ... OK, this movie is a REVELATION.

"With the exception of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD – maybe – THE AMUSEMENT PARK is Romero's most overtly horrifying film. Hugely upsetting in form & function.

"Where can you see this savage masterwork? You can't. But I'm dedicating myself to changing that. Can you help? Yes, probably. Give me some time to figure out what's what. This is truly one of those magical (cursed?) objects that I cannot believe has fallen through the cinematic cracks. We'll drag it back. I mean, THE AMUSEMENT PARK doesn't even show up on Romero's @IMDb page! This thing is long-long-long-lost. What does that tell me? It's dangerous & uncomfortable.

"Everyone's excited! That's good. This is Romero at the height of his full-throttle, machine-gun-edit, CRAZIES-era confidence. It's a sun-soaked nightmare: bright, loud, demented, disorienting. (It is *not*, as some sources report, a documentary.)

"But I repeat: there is *no* way to see this right now. That said, rest assured people are working on fixing that. It will take a little time. Please be patient. For right now, there *is* something you can do. @theGARFofficial is accepting donations toward the film's restoration. (sic)"

Since the funding page was set up the foundation has revealed that the money has been pouring in from horror aficionados desperate to view the movie.

Kraus tweeted: "A big day for Romero's lost 1973 film THE AMUSEMENT PARK! I've heard from @theGARFofficial that restoration donations are pouring in!! (sic)"

Before Kraus' reveal most fans of Romero's work had not even heard of the 'The Amusement Park, which was prevented from being released by the producers who were said to have been too disturbed by the filmmaker's fantasy documentary about the way society treats the elderly.

Recalling what the scholar Tony Williams said about the movie, Kraus tweeted: "Tony Williams, who saw the film 30 years ago, wrote 'The film is far too powerful for American society ... It must remain under lock & key never seeing the light of day.'

"It was never shown publicly. The people who funded it wouldn't allow it. And no wonder. It's hellish. In Romero's long career of criticizing American institutions, never was he so merciless."

'Trollhunters' writer Kraus is also currently working on completing Romero's unfinished novel 'The Living Dead'.