While Greg Nicotero gears up to make a movie about the making of George A. Romero’s 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead (watch it HERE), Nikyatu Jusu – who recently made her feature directorial debut with the horror film Nanny, which reaches Amazon Prime this Friday (December 16th) – is gearing up to make a sequel to Romero’s film. And now Deadline reports that MGM is in final negotiations to acquire the worldwide distribution rights to Jusu’s Night of the Living Dead sequel. MGM is planning to give the film a theatrical release.
This Night of the Living Dead sequel is coming to us from Romero’s ex-wife Christine Romero, the late George A. Romero’s Sanibel Films, Origin Story, Vertigo, and Westbrook Studios. Romero is the creative overseer on the project, producing alongside Village Roadshow’s Jillian Apfelbaum, Nic Gordon, and Tristen Tuckfeld, Origin Story’s Ryan Silbert, Vertigo’s Andrew Childs, Westbrook Studios’ Jon Mone and Ryan Shimazaki, and Sanibel Films’ Tina Romero, who is George and Christine’s daughter.
Jusu will be working from a screenplay written by LaToya Morgan, whose credits include episodes of Shameless, Parenthood, Into the Badlands, and The Walking Dead. Details on the plot are being kept under wraps.
When the project was first announced back in October, Jusu had this to say about it: “The original version of Night of the Living Dead is still so resonant to this day. Every era has the zombie that it needs and right now, zombies reflect the ways that humans treat each other and show us who is truly the monster.“
Morgan added that the original film is “one of the great cornerstones of the horror genre. I’m beyond thrilled to be playing in the sandbox that George Romero built and ecstatic to raise the stakes and push the envelope with this exciting new story.“
And Christine Romero said, “I am so excited by this visionary team of storytellers that have come together to expand on the premise of the original film. Revisiting the world that George and his collaborators created is going to be a treat for fans. George would have been so happy to see this happen!“
Are you looking forward to seeing what Jusu does with this Night of the Living Dead sequel? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Jusu is also working with Jordan Peele on a feature expansion of her vampire short film Suicide by Sunlight, but it appears that the Night of the Living Dead sequel might be the project that makes it into production first.