I am thrilled to be spending this weekend at the Monroeville Mall, the site famous for the filming of George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. “Living Dead Weekend” kicked off yesterday at the mall, filled with thousands of zombie fans, dozens of guests from the 1978 movie, and numerous panels and special events celebrating the classic film.
Among the special guests is Greg Nicotero, who I caught up with last night. He exclusively shared with me that he has joined the upcoming production of Twilight of the Dead to handle special makeup effects for the film, which comes as very welcome news! Of course, our readers are no strangers to the jaw-dropping work of Nicotero and his team on The Walking Dead, along with his work on Day of the Dead, the Creepshow TV series, and so much more. Like many Romero fans, I’m very excited to see Romero’s last zombie story and there is no one better to bring the movie’s zombies to life than Nicotero. When speaking with Nicotero, he expressed his excitement to join the project, stating that he has a vested interest in preserving Romero’s legacy.
Sadly, Romero passed away in 2017, and was unable to make what he planned as the conclusion to his series of zombie films with Twilight of the Dead. That said, he had written a treatment for the film, which THR said was “intended to be his final statement on the genre”. The story continues beyond the timeline we had previously seen in Land, Diary, and Survival, and is “set on a decimated earth where the last vestiges of humanity are trapped between warring factions and an evolving undead threat”.
While the project originally picked up steam in 2021, and in 2024, Milla Jovovich and Betty Gabriel were set to star in the film for The Machinist director Brad Anderson, there is a new directing team and star attached. Twilight of the Dead will star Kate Beckinsale, with the Paz Brothers (Doron and Yoav Paz) directing, and stunts veteran Ho-Sung Pak (Bullet Train) involved in the production.
When speaking with Deadline in May, the Paz Brothers commented on taking on this project, saying: “Stepping into Romero’s world is the ultimate privilege for any genre filmmaker. This is more than a continuation, it’s a responsibility. We are committed to honoring his voice while delivering a visceral, terrifying, impactful experience for today’s audience that resonates beyond the screen”.
This final chapter promises to be a definitive closing to the story Romero began decades ago, but the producers also haven’t ruled out additional films depending on the reception Twilight of the Dead receives. Per Deadline, “The film is driven by the Roundtable Entertainment team, led by producers John Baldecchi and Sarah Donnelly with executive producer and Roundtable President, Dominic Ianno, and in partnership with Suzanne Romero. Paolo Zelati is producer, screenwriter and author of the treatment together with Romero. Producers also include Bob Yari, Shaun Sanghani of SSS Entertainment and Aanaxion’s Kenneth Kim, Ho Sung Pak and George Furla.”