From Pet Sematary to City of the Dead: 10 Awesome Things George Romero Almost Made
John Squires
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Fresh off of directing Land of the Dead, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news in 2006 that Romero would be writing and directing a film called Solitary Isle, based on a short story written by Dark Water and The Ring scribe Koji Suzuki. The story is actually a part of a collection of seven stories from the book Dark Water, and it was the first story in the collection that Dark Water, the film, was based on.
Solitary Isle is about a group of explorers traveling to a supposedly uninhabited island, which they soon discover is in fact inhabited by a mysterious deadly force. Though the thought of Romero venturing out of the zombie sub-genre excited fans, the film never got off the ground, and Diary of the Dead ended up becoming Romero’s next film.
At the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, it was announced that Romero would be directing a remake of his buddy Dario Argento’s Deep Red – in 3D. Romero soon thereafter clarified that a deal had not been inked, and that he wouldn’t touch the film with a ten foot pole unless Dario was on board with him doing so.
As it turned out, it was Dario’s younger brother Claudio who wrote the screenplay and approached Romero about doing the film. When Romero found out that Claudio was looking to make it behind his brother’s back, Romero stayed true his word and backed out of the project.
While the title of this project sounds like yet another entry in Romero’s ‘of the Dead’ series of films, City of the Dead was actually going to be a video game, based on those films. Originally announced in 2004, and with a planned release date sometime in 2006, it was going to take place on a zombie-infested island and feature the likeness and voice of frequent Romero collaborator Tom Savini.
Footage from the gory game debuted at the 2005 E3 expo (check it out above!), but it was never seen or heard from again. According to reports, financial difficulties resulted in the death of the game. The bummer of all this is that Hip Interactive had also planned on making games based directly on Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, two projects that died along with City of the Dead.
Which of these failed projects would you bring back to life, if you had the chance? Leave a comment below and let us know!
