They’re coming to get you, Barbara… in 3D!
Yes, another “re-imagining” of George Romero’s zombie classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is in the works. The latest will be a 3D CGI project called NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: ORIGINS, and will be directed by newcomer Zebediah de Soto and produced by diretor Simon West (CON AIR, LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER). Romero himself is, unsurprisingly, not involved.
Romero’s influential, subversive and genre-defining 1968 original followed a group of people trying to survive a sudden onslaught by recently reanimated corpses. Now in the public domain, the film has since been re-edited, remixed and remade numerous times — including a 3D version in 2006 — with little success (perhaps outside of Tom Savini’s underappreciated 1990 version).
The latest update will reportedly be “an American-style anime” focusing on the characters’ backstories. Although it sounds like the tech may be more important than the subject matter — de Soto helped develop a “real-time effects system, known as ‘The Beast’, which allows filmmakers the ability to direct CG performances the same way they would direct real live actors.”