George A Romero’s Final Zombie Movie, Twilight of the Dead, May Begin Filming This Year

George A. Romero may have left us, but there is still one more entry in his Dead series that has yet to be produced. Deadline reports that Twilight of the Dead, the final entry in the series that began with 1968’s Night of the Living Dead, is expected to film this year. Roundtable Entertainment, who are producing the film, are hoping to begin production late this year in Puerto Rico.

Romero wrote a treatment for the project before his death and considered it to be a proper conclusion to the series. The project was announced in 2021 and the script was written by Joe Knetter, Robert Lucas, and Paolo Zelati (who worked on the treatment with Romero).

The seventh entry is set on a tropical island and the plot will “delve into the dark nature of humanity from the perspective of the last humans on earth who are caught between factions of the undead”. Producers claim the sequel will be “thought-provoking sociopolitical commentary wrapped in a genre piece”. This would be similar to the director’s past entries in the series.

The production team is still seeking a director and was looking into casting before the SAG-AFTRA strike happened. They are looking to get a waiver. They aren’t opposed to more movies if this one does well. Producers include Romero’s wife Suzanne Romero, John Baldecchi, Sarah Donnelly, Paolo Zelati and Ardvella Entertainment’s Stephanie Caleb. The executive producers Are Dominic Ianno, Alex Dundas, Jason Resnick, Chris Roe, and Luis Riefkohl.

Suzanne Romero said: “I’m delighted to be joining forces with Roundtable to bring the eerie evolution of Romero’s universe to the screen. Roundtable impressed me with their long-term and deep love of George’s work. I believe they have the vision to produce the best version of this movie that honors the Romero legacy. I can’t wait to start filming!”

Roundtable’s Head of Scripted John Baldecchi added: “We’re thrilled to be working alongside Suzanne, Paolo, and Stephanie to bring the final instalment of this epic series. It is the perfect ending to one of the greatest horror legacies of all time, with a powerful and timely message about how humanity is the cause of its own destruction, over and over and over again. There is a lot of excitement in the creative community to be involved and we’ll be making decisions on that shortly.”

George Romero created the modern zombie with the arrival of Night of the Living Dead, a film whose influence is still felt today. The series also included 1978’s Dawn of the Dead, 1985’s Day of the Dead, 2005’s Land of the Dead, 2008’s Diary of the Dead and 2009’s Survival of the Dead. The latter was the last project Romero director before his death in 2017.