Night of the Living Dead is back and it looks like MGM is already set to return to the iconic zombie franchise. Nanny‘s Nikyatu Jusu is already attached to direct the film for Village Roadshow Pictures, Westbrook, Origin Story, Vertigo Entertainment, and Sanibel Films. It seems the deal was grown out of a “highly competitive situation.” The film will be based on a script by LaToya Morgan, who is no stranger to zombies given her time on The Walking Dead. MGM is setting it for a theatrical run.
George A. Romero‘s original adaptation Night of the Living Dead back in 1968 was technically the film that defined the genre and went on to spawn sequels, reboots and countless others trying to capitalize on the “Living Dead” genre. To this day, Night of the Living Dead already has five sequels directed by Romero and it’s uncertain if this one will continue where the last entry left off. It’s plot is under wraps and it’s only titled as a sequel and not a reboot.
Jusu has made quite the splash with her work on Nanny, which was the first horror film to win the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, which also made her only the second Black female director to receive the reward. So, it’s no surprise that Amazon wasn’t going to waste any time to get her attached to a new project, especially one with such a legacy behind it. It’ll be interesting to see if they try to stick to what makes this genre iconic or rather try to twist the genre on its head with a new look t a zombie-infested world.
Source: Deadline
