Fantastic Fest 09: Romero Discusses the Future of the Dead

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Fantastic Fest‘s Saturday night screening of the American premiere of George A. Romero’s Survival of the Dead (review here) saw a packed house abuzz with anticipation about what the godfather of the zombie subgenre had come up with this time. As a bonus, we also received a little bit of information about what he might be coming up with next.

Prior to the movie being shown, Romero greeted the crowd (who returned the favor with rousing applause and a standing ovation) and participated in a Q&A. As you’d expect considering most of us hadn’t seen Survival yet, the topics were general in nature rather than specific about the film, which resulted in a few choice bits of information floating out.

In the midst of a couple of questions about all the remakes of and sequels to his earlier work — either by himself or others — 1981’s Knightriders came up. George said that it’s one he’s “intrigued” to consider revisiting, and inquiries have been made as to who exactly owns the rights. As any Romero-phile knows, rights issues have plagued him during his entire career, something he said he doesn’t have to worry about anymore because every one of his projects is being handled by one entity – Artfire Films.

As far as what the future holds, it all depends on how well Survival of the Dead does financially. Despite its mixed reviews, Diary did well enough in foreign and DVD sales to bring about Survival, and if Survival does the same, then we can look forward to at least two more offshoots from some of the characters who were first introduced in Diary of the Dead. He also has some new rules to the mythos he’d like to incorporate.

The ins and outs of exactly what type of release Survival will be getting are still being worked out while George and crew take it on the road via the festival circuit. If you’re planning to be in Spain October 1st-12th, you can catch it at the Sitges Film Fest. But if, like most of us, you’re stuck in the good old US of a A, then try to content yourself with watching the following behind-the-scenes sneak peek one more time.

BTS George Romero Sneak Peek
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By Debi Moore

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