Twilight of the Dead: George A. Romero zombie project may begin filming this year

After the release of Day of the Dead in 1985, twenty years went by without George A. Romero being able to get another zombie movie into production, even though he was very open about the fact that he had an idea for another one. During that time, a lot of fans expected the next movie to be called Twilight of the Dead, following the progression of the titles Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead. But when Romero did make a fourth zombie movie, he threw a titular curveball and called it Land of the Dead. That was followed by Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead. Now it looks like Twilight of the Dead is going to happen after all – and might even begin filming before the end of this year!

Deadline reports that Roundtable Entertainment will be providing the funding for Twilight of the Dead, which is coming our way from the Romero estate. They’re hoping to start filming in Puerto Rico soon. A director is already in talks to take the helm of the project, and casting was underway before the Screen Actors Guild strike began. Since Twilight of the Dead is an independent project, they have applied for an interim agreement that could allow actors to work on the film during the strike.

We first head about Twilight of the Dead back in 2021, at which time it was revealed that Romero (who passed away in 2017) had left behind a treatment for the “seventh and final installment” in the Dead franchise. That treatment has been fleshed out into a screenplay by Joe Knetter, Robert Lucas, and Paolo Zelati, who also worked on the treatment with Romero.

Set on a tropical island, the film will “delve into the dark nature of humanity from the perspective of the last humans on earth who are caught between factions of the undead.” Like the previous Dead films, it’s being described as a “thought-provoking sociopolitical commentary wrapped in a genre piece.”

Zelati is producing Twilight of the Dead with John Baldecchi, Sarah Donnelly, Ardvella Entertainment’s Stephanie Caleb, and Romero’s widow Suzanne Romero. Dominic Ianno, Alex Dundas, Jason Resnick, Chris Roe, and Luis Riefkohl serve as executive producers.

Suzanne Romero provided the following statement: “I’m delighted to be joining forces with Roundtable to bring the eerie evolution of Romero’s universe to the screen. Roundtable impressed me with their long-term and deep love of George’s work. I believe they have the vision to produce the best version of this movie that honors the Romero legacy. I can’t wait to start filming!“

Baldecchi, who is Head of Scripted at Roundtable Entertainment, added: “We’re thrilled to be working alongside Suzanne, Paolo, and Stephanie to bring the final installment of this epic series. It is the perfect ending to one of the greatest horror legacies of all time, with a powerful and timely message about how humanity is the cause of its own destruction, over and over and over again. There is a lot of excitement in the creative community to be involved and we’ll be making decisions on that shortly.“

Romero is my favorite genre filmmaker, and too many of his film ideas went unmade during his lifetime. So I’m glad to see that this zombie movie idea he left behind is going to make it into production. I look forward to seeing how Twilight of the Dead is going to turn out.

Are you interested in Twilight of the Dead, and are you glad to hear it might be filming soon? Let us know by leaving a comment below.