Last Friday, Syfy announced that they have ordered ten episodes of a zombie series that claims to be inspired by George A. Romero's 1985 film DAY OF THE DEAD but actually sounds like it has more in common with the '68 classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.
Produced by Cartel Entertainment and Blue Ice Pictures, this Day of the Dead show is written by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas, and it will focus on
six strangers trying to survive the first 24 hours of an undead invasion. This ode to Romero’s famous flesh-eaters reminds us that sometimes all it takes to bring people together is a horde of hungry zombies trying to rip them apart.
Romero didn't own the rights to DAY OF THE DEAD, he wasn't consulted about that DAY OF THE DEAD 2: CONTAGIUM disaster back in the day, or when the film was remade twice. He passed away in 2017, so now it's his estate that's not being consulted. When the Syfy news broke, Romero's widow made sure to let fans know – through the George A. Romero Foundation Twitter account – that his estate is not involved with this project.
This announcement is making the rounds today, but Suz would like everyone to be aware that this project is neither sanctioned nor endorsed by the #GeorgeARomero Estate, and—aside from the title—it bears no relationship whatsoever to George’s DAY OF THE DEAD or any other projects. pic.twitter.com/rBFzayGld4
— The George A. Romero Foundation (@theGARFofficial) February 28, 2020
Like I said when the news was announced, we can only hope that this series will be better than the previous attempts to cash in on the title, even though it doesn't sound like it should be using the Day of the Dead title anyway.
George Olson serves as showrunner with Elinoff and Thomas, and is also producing the show with Lance Samuels and Daniel Iron. Executive producers are Stan Spry, Jeff Holland, and Drew Brown of Cartel Entertainment, and Robert Dudelson, James Dudelson, and Jordan Kizwani of HiTide Studios.
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