I hope everyone's ready for another zombie TV series, because that's exactly what we'll be getting; only this time, we've got vampires thrown into the mix as well. "Empire of the Dead", a 15-issue limited series published by Marvel and written by zombie maestro George Romero, is being developed as a TV series by production company Demarest.
For those of you unfamiliar with the comic, here's the synopsis:
Welcome to New York City years after the undead plague has erupted…but just because Manhattan has been quarantined, don't think that everyone inside is safe! Not only do flesh-eaters roam Manhattan, but there's another ancient predator that has taken a bloody bite out of the Big Apple: vampires rule the city!
George Romero will pen the adaptation along with Peter Grunwald and both will produce the series for Demarest. With The Walking Dead as popular as it is, and Fear the Walking Dead on the way, it will be interesting to see whether a Romero-backed take on the undead can reach the same heights. I think most of us can agree that NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, DAWN OF THE DEAD, and DAY OF THE DEAD are great pieces of zombie cinema (I even have a soft spot for LAND OF THE DEAD), but the director's modern day zombie films, DIARY OF THE DEAD and SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD, fell far beneath those early classics. Will Empire of the Dead provide the comeback that Romero deserves? Here's hoping.