George A. Romero‘s Night of the Living Dead will be receiving an R-rated animated adaptation with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s Night of the Animated Dead.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will feature the voice talents of Josh Duhamel as Harry Cooper, Dulé Hill as Ben, Katharine Isabelle as Barbara, James Roday Rodriguez as Tom, Katee Sackhoff as Judy, Will Sasso as Sheriff McClelland, Jimmy Simpson as Johnny and Nancy Travis as Helen Cooper. The film will be directed by Jason Axinn, known for 2019 animated horror feature To Your Last Death. It is produced by Michael J. Luisi, Ralph E. Portillo, Robert Feldman and Kevin Kasha. The executive producers of the project are Richard Potter, Thomas DeFeo and Jamie Elliott.
The 1968 low-budget film focused on a group of survivors trapped inside a farmhouse under siege from the reanimated dead. As the dead begin to surround the house, the strangers begin to panic, and the safety of their makeshift base dissolves as the monsters begin to invade the inside. The film’s focus on the collaboration of the survivors is still relevant in zombie media today and it’s one of cinema’s most influential zombie movies.
The movie is in part responsible for the resurgence of zombies in popular culture — even though the film itself never uses the word. It went on to spawn five sequels, with the first two also achieving critical acclaim. Following Romero’s death in 2017, it was announced that his unfinished seventh sequel, Twilight of the Dead, would be given life under the supervision of Romero’s wife, Suzanne Romero, with co-writer Paolo Zelati finishing the script. The final film in the series, it was mid-production when Romero Passed. The film resumed production in 2021.
Night of the Living Dead has seen potential spinoffs created by others than Romero fall into development hell. In 2018, an unproduced sequel was announced to have begun production and was slated to arrive in theaters in 2019, but has since fallen into hiatus. Similarly, a prequel film titled Origins was crowdfunded by Romero’s son, George Cameron Romero, with the intention of revisiting his father’s legacy. Despite reaching its goal, the film has yet to enter production.
Night of the Animated Dead, directed by Jason Axinn and starring Josh Duhamel, Dule Hill, Katharine Isabelle, James Roday Rodriguez, Katee Sackhoff, Will Sasso, Jimmy Simpson and Nanacy Travis, will release on Blu-ray, DVD and on digital release this fall.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
About The Author
