Comics
George Romero’s Unmade Zombie Movie ‘Road of the Dead’ is Getting a Comic Series from IDW
As we learned last year, shortly before he passed away, George A. Romero‘s zombie franchise was set to continue with Road of the Dead, co-written by Romero but with Romero passing the directorial torch over to Matt Birman. Allegedly, Birman still plans on making the movie, but we haven’t heard a peep about the project in quite some time now.
Road of the Dead takes place six years after Land of the Dead, set on an island where zombie prisoners race cars in a modern-day Coliseum for the entertainment of wealthy humans.
“In the darkest days of the zombie apocalypse, the last safe place on earth is anything but, as a mad despot uses the spectacle of high octane carnage to keep control of his populous.”
While we wait for the movie, Syfy Wire brings us the news that IDW is bringing Road of the Dead to life with a prequel comic book mini-series, previewed by the website today.
As the site explains, “Road of the Dead: Highway To Hell is a three-issue miniseries written by New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry (V-Wars) with insane interior art by Drew Moss (Copperhead). This shocking series acts as an over-the-top prequel to Romero’s final zombie film and expands upon the horrific mythology.”
“The storyline has legions of deadheads feasting on the living as a young female scientist holds the secret to a possible cure for the savage pandemic. On the run for her life, famished zombies, looney looters, and ruthless biker gangs hit the road to try and stop this savior, while lovable losers in muscle cars and a hijacked Abrams tank risk everything to save her.”
Road of the Dead: Highway to Hell will arrive in comic shops November 7.
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
You must be logged in to post a comment.