The man who helped usher zombies into mainstream pop culture is back shepherding the undead. George A. Romero, who expanded his horror reach to graphic novels with Empire Of The Dead, is now aiming to bring the story to television.
Demarest, which produced films such as** A Most Wanted Man** and Kevin Smith’s horror comedy Tusk, is backing the effort, which boasts Romero and long-time writer Peter Grunwald on scripting duty for the project, which has yet to land a channel or announce whether it’ll be intended as a long-running show or a limited, “event” series as US TV is so fond of calling them these days.
Empire Of The Dead, which was featured art by Alex Maleev and was published by Marvel, is set in the world years after the undead plague originally erupted, and finds humanity dealing with it in different ways. Manhattan has long been quarantined as a zombie zone, but that doesn’t mean they’re completely contained, and appear to be developing intelligence. Plus there’s another threat stalking the streets – vampires...
Now what Romero needs is a little assistance from his old collaborator and effects maestro Greg Nicotero, who would surely be the smart choice to work on a TV series about zombies. Oh... Wait...
But if you’re a fan of the zombie types, take a listen to Nicotero talking to us recently about everything from working with Romero to his duties on The Walking Dead.