We spoke to our old pal, legendary horror film director George A. Romero, ooh, about an hour ago, ostensibly to talk about the upcoming DVD release of Land Of The Dead (out on Boxing Day, folks).
But what kind of movie news service would we be if we didn’t take the time to ask him about his upcoming movies – and, to our surprise, the ever-affable Romero told us that a fifth Dead movie is very much on the cards.
“Now that Land of the Dead did so well in European markets and Japan, and the DVD is flying off shelves, there’s talk of a sequel,” he confirmed.
We say ‘surprised’ because, last time we encountered Romero back in August, he was somewhat down after the movie hadn’t performed well at the US box office, where it had been thrown up against the likes of Batman Begins and War Of The Worlds. But since then, the movie has caught on around the world and Universal/Rogue Pictures and Atmosphere, the production company behind Land are sniffing around a follow-up.
If it happens, a new Dead movie will follow the surviving characters from Land on their journey north, and as such will mark the first time Romero has made a direct sequel to one of his zombie flicks. And this time, there won’t be a lengthy gap between films.
“Frankly, I was ok with that,” because I’d much rather wait for something to happen, laughed Romero, referring to the political subtext that underpins each of his zombie movies. “If they nuke Washington, then I’ve got something. It won’t be in April but it might now be August or something. I hope to God we don’t have to do the winter again, but there’s a real buzz happening now about a sequel.”
Land Part Deux puts Romero’s two planned Stephen King adaptations, From A Buick 8 and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, on the back burner for a while yet. From A Buick 8, a tender coming of age fantasy that just happens to revolve around a car from an alien dimension, had only recently been announced as Romero’s next project.
“There’s no deal,” he said. “There’s no ink on paper. I have no idea if that’s first, or if Tom Gordon’s first. It’s all about who writes the first cheque. I like ‘em, I wrote screenplays for both of ‘em and I’m very comfortable with where they sit right now. But it’s all about which one gets going first.”
Needless to say, we’ll keep you posted of any future developments for either the next Dead movie, or the King flicks.