Indie
George A. Romero Driving Down the ‘Road of the Dead’!
Was my April Fool’s Day joke a little too on the nose?
George A. Romero, considered the godfather of the zombie subgenre, is taking his undead franchise on the road.
Included in this summer’s Frontières co-production market, which returns to the Fantasia International Film Festival from July 20-23 in Montreal, is a brand new Romero zombie film that is seeking financing.
Similar to how Don Coscarelli passed on the directing duties with the fifth Phantasm, Romero will unfortunately not be helming George A. Romero Presents: Road of the Dead, this time passing the baton to Matt Birman.
Road of the Dead originated as an original pitch from Birman roughly 10 years ago, explained Indiewire:
The story is set on an island where zombie prisoners race cars in a modern-day Coliseum for the entertainment of wealthy humans.
Birman describes the project as Road Warrior meets Rollerball at a Nascar race, with significant inspiration from Ben-Hur.
Birman is the perfect choice to continue Romero’s legacy as he was the second unti director on several “of the dead” films, including Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, and Survival of the Dead.
Romero co-wrote the screenplay with Birman who both produce with Matt Manjourides and Justin Martell.
The Wayans are out to cancel the Cancel Culture with Scary Movie, and the cast assures it will do just that.
“They sort of have an across-the-board style,” Anna Faris tells EW. “It’s always been a part of the Wayans Brothers, their electricity. ‘Can we offend you? Will you still love us? Come on, you still love us, don’t you?'”
Regina Hall concurs, promising the “boundary-pushing” sixth installment in the horror parody franchise will “offend everyone.”
EW has shared a batch of behind-the-scenes images from Scary Movie, which hits theaters June 5 via Paramount.
Faris and Hall are joined by fellow franchise favorites Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Dave Sheridan, Lochlyn Munro, Cheri Oteri, Chris Elliott, and Jon Abrahams in the legacy sequel.
The ensemble includes Damon Wayans Jr., Gregg Wayans, Kim Wayans, Benny Zielke, Cameron Scott Roberts, Heidi Gardner, Olivia Rose Keegan, Ruby Snowber, Savannah Lee Nassif, Sydney Park, Kenan Thompson, and Felissa Rose.
Michael Tiddes (A Haunted House) directs from a script by Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, original Scary Movie director Keenen Ivory Wayans, Craig Wayans (Scary Movie 2), and Rick Alvarez (A Haunted House).
The film will slash through reboots, remakes, requels, prequels, sequels, spin-offs, elevated horror, origin stories, anything with the word legacy in it, and every “final chapter” that absolutely isn’t final.
Scary Movie launched in 2000, followed by Scary Movie 2 in 2001. The Wayans’ involvement ended there, but the series continued with 2003’s Scary Movie 3, 2006’s Scary Movie 4, and 2013’s Scary Movie 5.
Regina Hall & Marlon Wayans on the set of ‘Scary Movie.’ Credit: Paramount Pictures.
Anna Faris on the set of ‘Scary Movie.’ Credit: Paramount Pictures.
Marlon Wayans & Regina Hall on the set of ‘Scary Movie.’ Credit: Paramount Pictures.
Michael Tiddes & Anna Faris on the set of ‘Scary Movie.’ Credit: Paramount Pictures.
Marlon Wayans on the set of ‘Scary Movie.’ Credit: Paramount Pictures.
Regina Hall & Anna Faris on the set of ‘Scary Movie.’ Credit: Paramount Pictures.
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