Back in May, Eric Walkuski introduced an article that while very interesting and unexpected, it was also a little nerve wrecking. George Romero, the godfather of the zombie flick, was in “advanced negotiations” to direct a 3D remake of Dario Argento’s DEEP RED. And while the reponse was mostly negative, some considered the move to be the right change of pace for Romero, there seems to be a change of flow in the motions of random greenlighting. A few hours a go Bloody-Disgusting recieved word that the breaks had been kicked for the new 3D Remake of DEEP RED and the word sounds a lot like Romero’s fading footsteps. George Romero is helming the project no more.
“I basically dropped out of it,” reports Blood-Disgusting on their interview with Romero. While the idea was that Romero would take the remake into the modern world, there was still the fear in the back of everyone’s mind: what if Romero has lost it? Now we won’t know if Romero’s still got it or not until he develops his next (insert possesive pronoun here) of the dead film. It seems though that there was a lot more going on underneath the script that led Romero to believe there wasn’t much for him anyway. This is what Romero had to say: “I was approached by Dario’s brother, Claudio Argento, and the last time I worked with those guys they were together and still speaking to each other,” the director told us. “And I found out now that they’re not, and Claudio called me and asked me to do it, and he initially said that Dario was involved, and I said ‘well, I’d really like to talk to him about it.’ And the other numbers I had for Dario were old and no good anymore, and I finally had a friend give me a contact for Dario, and I wrote to him and he said no, he wasn’t involved and he didn’t appreciate the idea that Claudio was doing it so I said, ‘well hey man, then I’m out’.”
So the man’s out and now there’s really no telling who’s up for the challenge. Truth is, however, this isn’t going to stop Hollywood from making yet another remake. Brother rivalry or not, if the execs like it, it will get made. Lend your thoughts on the matter down below. Do you like Romero’s move or do you think he’s lost it?