George A. Romero
Encyclopedia
George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director
, screenwriter
and editor
, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror film
s about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse
. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies."
to a Cuban
-born father of Castilian Spanish parentage and a Lithuanian-American
mother. His father worked as a commercial artist. Romero attended Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University
. After graduating in 1960, he began his career shooting short films and commercials. One of his early commercial films, a segment for Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
in which Mr. Rogers underwent a tonsillectomy, inspired Romero to go into the horror film business. He, along with nine friends, formed Image Ten Productions in the late 1960s, and produced Night of the Living Dead
(1968). The movie, directed by Romero and co-written with John A. Russo
, became a cult classic
and a defining moment for modern horror cinema.
Other inspiration for Romero's filmmaking, as told to Robert K. Elder
in an interview for The Film That Changed My Life
, was the film The Tales of Hoffmann
.
Three films that followed were less popular: There's Always Vanilla
(1971), Jack's Wife / Season of the Witch (1972) and The Crazies (1973) were not as well received as Night of the Living Dead or some of his later work. The Crazies, dealing with a bio spill that induces an epidemic of homicidal madness, and the critically acclaimed arthouse success Martin
(1977), a film that deals with the vampire
myth, were the two well-known films from this period. Like many of his films, they were shot in or around Pittsburgh.
In 1978, Romero returned to the zombie
genre with Dawn of the Dead (1978). Shot on a budget of just $500,000, the film earned over $55 million worldwide and was named one of the top cult film
s by Entertainment Weekly
in 2003. Romero made a third entry in his "Dead Series" with Day of the Dead (1985).
Between these two films, Romero shot Knightriders
(1981), another festival favorite about a group of modern-day jousters who reenact tournaments on motorcycles, and the successful Creepshow
(1982), written by Stephen King
, an anthology of tongue-in-cheek tales modeled after 1950s horror comics.
From the latter half of the 1980s and into the 1990s came Monkey Shines
(1988), about a killer helper monkey, Two Evil Eyes (1990), an Edgar Allan Poe
adaptation in collaboration with Dario Argento
, the Stephen King
adaptation The Dark Half
(1993) and Bruiser
(2000), about a man whose face becomes a blank mask.
Romero updated his original screenplay and executive produced the remake of Night of the Living Dead
directed by Tom Savini
for Columbia/TriStar in 1990. Romero had a cameo appearance in Jonathan Demme
's Academy Award-winning The Silence of the Lambs in 1991 as one of Hannibal Lecter's jailers.
In 1998, he directed the live-action commercial promoting the videogame Resident Evil 2
in Tokyo
, Japan
. The 30-second advertisement featured the game's two main characters, Leon S. Kennedy
and Claire Redfield
, fighting a horde of zombies while in Raccoon City's Police Station. The project was obvious territory for Romero; the Resident Evil series has been heavily influenced by Romero's "Dead" projects. The commercial was rather popular and was released in the weeks before the game's actual release, although a contract dispute prevented the commercial from being shown outside Japan. Capcom was so impressed with Romero's work, it was strongly indicated that Romero would direct the first Resident Evil
film. He declined at first — "I don't wanna make another film with zombies in it, and I couldn't make a movie based on something that ain't mine" — although in later years, he reconsidered and wrote a script for the first movie. It was eventually rejected in favor of Paul W. S. Anderson
's version.
Universal Studios produced and released a remake of Dawn of the Dead
in 2004, with which Romero was not involved. Later that year, Romero kicked off the DC Comics
title Toe Tags with a six-issue miniseries titled The Death of Death. Based on an unused script that Romero had previously written as a sequel to his "Dead Trilogy," the comic miniseries concerns Damien, an intelligent zombie who remembers his former life, struggling to find his identity as he battles armies of both the living and the dead. Typical of a Romero zombie tale, the miniseries includes ample supply of both gore and social commentary (dealing particularly here with corporate greed and terrorism — ideas he would also explore in his next film in the series, Land of the Dead
). Romero has stated that the miniseries is set in the same kind of world as his 'Dead' films, but featured other locales besides Pittsburgh, where the majority of his films take place.
Romero, who lives in Toronto
, Ontario
, filmed a fourth "Dead" movie in that city titled Land of the Dead
. The movie's working title was "Dead Reckoning". Its $16 million production budget was the highest of the four movies in the series. Actors Simon Baker
, Dennis Hopper
, Asia Argento
, and John Leguizamo
star in the film. It was released on June 24, 2005 to generally positive reviews.
Some critics have seen social commentary in much of Romero's work. They view Night of the Living Dead as a film made in reaction to the turbulent 1960s, Dawn of the Dead as a satire on consumerism
, Day of the Dead as a study of the conflict between science and the military, and Land of the Dead as an examination of class conflict
.
Romero collaborated with the game company Hip Interactive in creating a game called City of the Dead
, but the game was canceled midway due to the financial problems of the company.
In June 2006, Romero began his next project, called Zombisodes. Broadcast on the Web, they are a combination of a series of "Making of" shorts and story expansion detailing the work behind the film George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead. Shooting began in Toronto in July 2006.
In August 2006, The Hollywood Reporter made two announcements about Romero, the first being that he will write and direct a film based on a short story by Koji Suzuki
, author of Ring
and Dark Water
, called Solitary Isle and the second announcement pertaining to his signing on to write and direct George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead, which follows a group of college students making a horror movie in the woods, who stumble on a real zombie uprising. When the onslaught begins, they seize the moment as any good film students would, capturing the undead in a cinema verite
style that causes more than the usual production headaches. The film was independently financed, making it the first indie zombie film Romero has done in years.
After a limited theatrical release, Diary of the Dead was released on DVD by Dimension Extreme on May 20, 2008, and later to Blu-ray Disc
on October 21, 2008.
Shooting began in Toronto in September 2008 for Romero's newest zombie film. The title was Survival of the Dead and the production company was called "...of the Dead". Originally, the film was reported to be a direct sequel to Diary of the Dead, but the film features a new cast of characters, and did not retain the first-person camerawork of Diary of the Dead. Filming commenced on the movie, with Alan Van Sprang starring who featured in Romero's Land of the Dead and Diary of the Dead, and the majority of the story taking place on an island. The film premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. Prior to the May 28, 2010 theatrical release in the United States, Survival of the Dead was made available to Video On Demand
and a special one-night-only sneak preview was aired May 26, 2010 on HDNet
.
Romero is featured in a downloadable feature of popular video game Call Of Duty: Black Ops
called Escalation (the second map pack) in a zombie map called 'Call of the Dead' as an NPC (Non-playable character). He is featured alongside famous actors Sarah Michelle Gellar
, Danny Trejo
, Michael Rooker
, and Robert Englund
. Ironically, he is featured as a zombie that is very hard to kill, and is armed with a movie studio light. When killed he drops a random perk/death machine or Wunderwaffe DG-2, a weapon that shoots lightning.
In 2010 Romero was contacted by Claudio Argento
to direct a 3D remake of the Dario Argento
film, Deep Red
. Claudio was expected to write the screenplay and told Romero that his brother Dario would also be involved. Romero, who showed interest in the project decided to contact his longtime friend Dario only to find out that Dario knew nothing about the remake so Romero ended up to declining Claudio's offer. Romero says he has plans for two more Dead movies which will be connected to Diary Of The Dead and they will be made depending on how successful Survival of the Dead was. Romero however said that his next project would not involve zombies and he's going for the scare factor but wouldn't mention anything else about his next film.
Romero currently lives in Toronto with his girlfriend, Suzanne Desrocher, whom he met while filming Land of the Dead. They had married in September 2011 on Martha's Vineyard.
http://www.scifimoviepage.com/art_landof.html He took up Canadian Citizenship
in 2009 along with his native citizenship to the U.S.
Greatest Films Poll. They are The Brothers Karamazov, Casablanca
, Dr. Strangelove, High Noon
, King Solomon's Mines
, North by Northwest
(a film on which a teenaged Romero worked as a gofer
), The Quiet Man
, Repulsion
, Touch of Evil
and The Tales of Hoffman
. Romero listed the films in alphabetical order, with special placement given to The Tales of Hoffman, which he cites as "my favourite film of all time; the movie that made me want to make movies."
. The tribute was presented by longtime Romero fan Quentin Tarantino
, who stated in his speech that the "A" in George A. Romero stood for "A fucking genius."
interviewed Romero for his BBC documentary series A History of Horror
, in which he appears in the third episode.
Interviews
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and editor
Film editing
Film editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling...
, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
s about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse
Zombie apocalypse
A zombie apocalypse is a particular scenario of apocalyptic literature that customarily has a science fiction/horror rationale. In a zombie apocalypse, a widespread rise of zombies hostile to human life engages in a general assault on civilization....
. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies."
Life and career
Romero was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to a Cuban
Cubans
Cubans or Cuban people are the inhabitants or citizens of Cuba. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
-born father of Castilian Spanish parentage and a Lithuanian-American
Lithuanian-American
Lithuanian Americans are citizens of the United States who are of Lithuanian ancestry. According to the United States Census, there are 712,165 Americans of full or partial Lithuanian descent....
mother. His father worked as a commercial artist. Romero attended Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
. After graduating in 1960, he began his career shooting short films and commercials. One of his early commercial films, a segment for Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, also known as Mister Rogers, is an American children's television series that was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series is aimed primarily at preschool ages, 2-5, but has been stated by Public Broadcasting Service as "appropriate for all ages"...
in which Mr. Rogers underwent a tonsillectomy, inspired Romero to go into the horror film business. He, along with nine friends, formed Image Ten Productions in the late 1960s, and produced Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 American independent black-and-white zombie film and cult film directed by George A. Romero, starring Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea and Karl Hardman. It premiered on October 1, 1968, and was completed on a USD$114,000 budget. After decades of cinematic re-releases, it...
(1968). The movie, directed by Romero and co-written with John A. Russo
John A. Russo
John A. Russo , sometimes credited as Jack Russo or John Russo, is an American screenwriter and film director most commonly associated with the 1968 horror classic Night of the Living Dead. As a screenwriter, his credits include Night of the Living Dead, The Majorettes, Midnight, and Santa Claws....
, became a cult classic
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
and a defining moment for modern horror cinema.
Other inspiration for Romero's filmmaking, as told to Robert K. Elder
Robert K. Elder
Robert K. Elder is an American journalist, author and film columnist.- Early life and education :A Montana native, Elder interviewed Ken Kesey for his high school newspaper. The author encouraged Elder to attend his alma mater, the University of Oregon, which Elder did two years later...
in an interview for The Film That Changed My Life
The Film That Changed My Life
The Film That Changed My Life is a non-fiction collection of interviews compiled by American journalist, author and film columnist Robert K. Elder...
, was the film The Tales of Hoffmann
The Tales of Hoffmann (film)
The Tales of Hoffmann is a 1951 British film adaptation of Jacques Offenbach's opera Les contes d'Hoffmann, written, produced and directed by the team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger working under the umbrella of their production company, The Archers...
.
It was the filmmaking, the fantasy, the fact that it was a fantasy and it had a few frightening, sort of bizarre things in it. It was everything. It was really a movie for me, and it gave me an early appreciation for the power of visual media—the fact that you could experiment with it. He was doing all his tricks in-camera, and they were sort of obvious. That made me feel that, gee, maybe I could figure this medium out. It was transparent, but it worked.
Three films that followed were less popular: There's Always Vanilla
There's Always Vanilla
There's Always Vanilla is a 1971 film and was director George A. Romero's second motion picture and, , his only romantic comedy. It is one of the few Romero films that does not deal with a zombie apocalypse or other supernatural horror themes...
(1971), Jack's Wife / Season of the Witch (1972) and The Crazies (1973) were not as well received as Night of the Living Dead or some of his later work. The Crazies, dealing with a bio spill that induces an epidemic of homicidal madness, and the critically acclaimed arthouse success Martin
Martin (film)
Martin is a 1978 American horror film written and directed by George A. Romero.Romero claims that Martin is the favorite of all his films...
(1977), a film that deals with the vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
myth, were the two well-known films from this period. Like many of his films, they were shot in or around Pittsburgh.
In 1978, Romero returned to the zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
genre with Dawn of the Dead (1978). Shot on a budget of just $500,000, the film earned over $55 million worldwide and was named one of the top cult film
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
s by Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
in 2003. Romero made a third entry in his "Dead Series" with Day of the Dead (1985).
Between these two films, Romero shot Knightriders
Knightriders
Knightriders is a 1981 film written and directed by George A. Romero. It was filmed entirely on location in Pennsylvania, especially in Fawn Township and Natrona...
(1981), another festival favorite about a group of modern-day jousters who reenact tournaments on motorcycles, and the successful Creepshow
Creepshow
Creepshow is a 1982 American horror anthology film directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King. The film's ensemble cast included Ted Danson, Leslie Nielsen, Hal Holbrook, E.G...
(1982), written by Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, an anthology of tongue-in-cheek tales modeled after 1950s horror comics.
From the latter half of the 1980s and into the 1990s came Monkey Shines
Monkey Shines
Monkey Shines may refer to:* Monkey Shines, a 1988 film written and directed by George A. Romero* Monkey Shines , a 1997 shareware game for the Apple Macintosh...
(1988), about a killer helper monkey, Two Evil Eyes (1990), an Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
adaptation in collaboration with Dario Argento
Dario Argento
Dario Argento is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, particularly in the subgenre known as giallo, and for his influence on modern horror and slasher movies....
, the Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
adaptation The Dark Half
The Dark Half (film)
The Dark Half is a 1993 horror film adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name. The film was directed by George A. Romero and stars Timothy Hutton as Thad Beaumont and George Stark, Amy Madigan as Liz Beaumont, Michael Rooker as Sheriff Alan Pangborn and Royal Dano in his final...
(1993) and Bruiser
Bruiser (film)
Bruiser is a 2000 thriller film, which stars Jason Flemyng, it was written and directed by George A. Romero.-Synopsis:Henry Creedlow, a man who wakes up one morning to discover that his face has been replaced by a white featureless mask.-Plot:...
(2000), about a man whose face becomes a blank mask.
Romero updated his original screenplay and executive produced the remake of Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead (1990 film)
Night of the Living Dead is a 1990 American remake of George A. Romero's 1968 horror film of the same name and was directed by Tom Savini. Romero rewrote the original 1968 screenplay co-authored by John A...
directed by Tom Savini
Tom Savini
Thomas Vincent "Tom" Savini is an American actor, stuntman, director, award-winning special effects and makeup artist. He is known for his work on the Living Dead films directed by George A. Romero, as well as Creepshow, The Burning, Friday the 13th, The Prowler, and Maniac. He directed the 1990...
for Columbia/TriStar in 1990. Romero had a cameo appearance in Jonathan Demme
Jonathan Demme
Robert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop...
's Academy Award-winning The Silence of the Lambs in 1991 as one of Hannibal Lecter's jailers.
In 1998, he directed the live-action commercial promoting the videogame Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 2, known as in Japan, is a survival horror video game originally released for the PlayStation in 1998. Developed by Capcom as the second installment in the Resident Evil series, its story takes place two months after the events of the first game, Resident Evil...
in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The 30-second advertisement featured the game's two main characters, Leon S. Kennedy
Leon S. Kennedy
is a player character appearing in the Resident Evil series of survival horror video games. Leon is a protagonist in Resident Evil 2 and the main protagonist of Resident Evil 4. During the events of RE2, Leon is a new police officer who arrives in Raccoon City late for his first day on the job,...
and Claire Redfield
Claire Redfield
is a player character appearing in the Resident Evil series of survival horror video games.Claire is the younger sister of Chris Redfield, the protagonist of the first Resident Evil game...
, fighting a horde of zombies while in Raccoon City's Police Station. The project was obvious territory for Romero; the Resident Evil series has been heavily influenced by Romero's "Dead" projects. The commercial was rather popular and was released in the weeks before the game's actual release, although a contract dispute prevented the commercial from being shown outside Japan. Capcom was so impressed with Romero's work, it was strongly indicated that Romero would direct the first Resident Evil
Resident Evil (film)
Resident Evil is a British-German 2002 horror film written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. The film stars Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius, and James Purefoy...
film. He declined at first — "I don't wanna make another film with zombies in it, and I couldn't make a movie based on something that ain't mine" — although in later years, he reconsidered and wrote a script for the first movie. It was eventually rejected in favor of Paul W. S. Anderson
Paul W. S. Anderson
Paul William Scott Anderson , also known as Paul W. S. Anderson or Paul Anderson, is an English film director who regularly works in science fiction movies and video game adaptations.-Life and career:...
's version.
Universal Studios produced and released a remake of Dawn of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)
Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 horror film directed by Zack Snyder in his directorial debut. It is a remake of George A. Romero's 1978 film of the same name and stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, and Jake Weber. The film depict a handful of human survivors living in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin shopping mall...
in 2004, with which Romero was not involved. Later that year, Romero kicked off the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
title Toe Tags with a six-issue miniseries titled The Death of Death. Based on an unused script that Romero had previously written as a sequel to his "Dead Trilogy," the comic miniseries concerns Damien, an intelligent zombie who remembers his former life, struggling to find his identity as he battles armies of both the living and the dead. Typical of a Romero zombie tale, the miniseries includes ample supply of both gore and social commentary (dealing particularly here with corporate greed and terrorism — ideas he would also explore in his next film in the series, Land of the Dead
Land of the Dead
For the disambiguation page on anything else on this topic, come here to Land of the Dead .Land of the Dead is a 2005 horror film written and directed by George A...
). Romero has stated that the miniseries is set in the same kind of world as his 'Dead' films, but featured other locales besides Pittsburgh, where the majority of his films take place.
Romero, who lives in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, filmed a fourth "Dead" movie in that city titled Land of the Dead
Land of the Dead
For the disambiguation page on anything else on this topic, come here to Land of the Dead .Land of the Dead is a 2005 horror film written and directed by George A...
. The movie's working title was "Dead Reckoning". Its $16 million production budget was the highest of the four movies in the series. Actors Simon Baker
Simon Baker
Simon Baker is an Australian actor. Since 2008, he has starred in the CBS television series The Mentalist.-Early life:...
, Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
, Asia Argento
Asia Argento
Aria Asia Anna Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento is an Italian actress, singer, model and director.-Family and early life:...
, and John Leguizamo
John Leguizamo
Jonathan Alberto "John" Leguizamo is an Colombian-American actor, producer, voice artist, and comedian.-Early life:...
star in the film. It was released on June 24, 2005 to generally positive reviews.
Some critics have seen social commentary in much of Romero's work. They view Night of the Living Dead as a film made in reaction to the turbulent 1960s, Dawn of the Dead as a satire on consumerism
Consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen...
, Day of the Dead as a study of the conflict between science and the military, and Land of the Dead as an examination of class conflict
Class conflict
Class conflict is the tension or antagonism which exists in society due to competing socioeconomic interests between people of different classes....
.
Romero collaborated with the game company Hip Interactive in creating a game called City of the Dead
City of the Dead (video game)
City of the Dead is a canceled first person shooter video game, based on George A. Romero's Dead Series of Zombie films...
, but the game was canceled midway due to the financial problems of the company.
In June 2006, Romero began his next project, called Zombisodes. Broadcast on the Web, they are a combination of a series of "Making of" shorts and story expansion detailing the work behind the film George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead. Shooting began in Toronto in July 2006.
In August 2006, The Hollywood Reporter made two announcements about Romero, the first being that he will write and direct a film based on a short story by Koji Suzuki
Koji Suzuki
Koji Suzuki is a Japanese writer, who was born in Hamamatsu and currently lives in Tokyo. Suzuki is the author of the Ring cycle of novels, which has been adapted into a manga series. He has written several books on the subject of fatherhood...
, author of Ring
Ring (Suzuki novel)
is a Japanese horror novel by Koji Suzuki, first published in 1991, and set in modern day Japan. It was the basis for a film of the same name , and two remakes: a Korean version and an American version ....
and Dark Water
Dark Water (book)
Dark Water is the English title of a collection of short stories by Koji Suzuki, originally published in Japan as Honogurai mizu no soko kara . The book was first published in 1996, and released in 2004 in English translation...
, called Solitary Isle and the second announcement pertaining to his signing on to write and direct George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead, which follows a group of college students making a horror movie in the woods, who stumble on a real zombie uprising. When the onslaught begins, they seize the moment as any good film students would, capturing the undead in a cinema verite
Cinéma vérité
Cinéma vérité is a style of documentary filmmaking, combining naturalistic techniques with stylized cinematic devices of editing and camerawork, staged set-ups, and the use of the camera to provoke subjects. It is also known for taking a provocative stance toward its topics.There are subtle yet...
style that causes more than the usual production headaches. The film was independently financed, making it the first indie zombie film Romero has done in years.
After a limited theatrical release, Diary of the Dead was released on DVD by Dimension Extreme on May 20, 2008, and later to Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
on October 21, 2008.
Shooting began in Toronto in September 2008 for Romero's newest zombie film. The title was Survival of the Dead and the production company was called "...of the Dead". Originally, the film was reported to be a direct sequel to Diary of the Dead, but the film features a new cast of characters, and did not retain the first-person camerawork of Diary of the Dead. Filming commenced on the movie, with Alan Van Sprang starring who featured in Romero's Land of the Dead and Diary of the Dead, and the majority of the story taking place on an island. The film premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. Prior to the May 28, 2010 theatrical release in the United States, Survival of the Dead was made available to Video On Demand
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
and a special one-night-only sneak preview was aired May 26, 2010 on HDNet
HDNet
HDNet is a men's interest television channel in the United States, broadcasting exclusively in high-definition format and available via cable and satellite television...
.
Romero is featured in a downloadable feature of popular video game Call Of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Black Ops is a first-person shooter video game developed by Treyarch, published by Activision and released worldwide on November 9, for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii consoles, with a separate version for Nintendo DS developed by n-Space. Announced on April 30, 2010,...
called Escalation (the second map pack) in a zombie map called 'Call of the Dead' as an NPC (Non-playable character). He is featured alongside famous actors Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Prinze , known professionally by her birth name of Sarah Michelle Gellar , is an American actress, singer and executive producer...
, Danny Trejo
Danny Trejo
Dan "Danny" Trejo is an American actor who has appeared in numerous Hollywood films, most notably in roles as an antagonist, or anti-hero.-Early life:...
, Michael Rooker
Michael Rooker
Michael Rooker is an American actor.-Early life:Rooker, who has eight brothers and sisters, was born in Jasper, Alabama and studied at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago, where he moved with his mother and siblings at the age of thirteen, after his parents divorced.-Movie career:He made his...
, and Robert Englund
Robert Englund
Robert Barton Englund is an American actor, voice-actor and director, best known for playing the fictional serial killer Freddy Krueger, in the Nightmare on Elm Street film series. He received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors in...
. Ironically, he is featured as a zombie that is very hard to kill, and is armed with a movie studio light. When killed he drops a random perk/death machine or Wunderwaffe DG-2, a weapon that shoots lightning.
In 2010 Romero was contacted by Claudio Argento
Claudio Argento
Claudio Argento is an Italian film producer and screenwriter. Most of the titles he has produced have been the horror films directed by his older brother, Dario Argento. One major exception was Alejandro Jodorowsky's cult film Santa Sangre ; in addition to producing, Claudio Argento co-wrote the...
to direct a 3D remake of the Dario Argento
Dario Argento
Dario Argento is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, particularly in the subgenre known as giallo, and for his influence on modern horror and slasher movies....
film, Deep Red
Deep Red
Profondo Rosso is a 1975 giallo film directed and written by Dario Argento and co-written by Bernardino Zapponi. It was released on March 7, 1975 in Italy and June 11, 1976 in the United States. The film's score was composed and performed by Goblin...
. Claudio was expected to write the screenplay and told Romero that his brother Dario would also be involved. Romero, who showed interest in the project decided to contact his longtime friend Dario only to find out that Dario knew nothing about the remake so Romero ended up to declining Claudio's offer. Romero says he has plans for two more Dead movies which will be connected to Diary Of The Dead and they will be made depending on how successful Survival of the Dead was. Romero however said that his next project would not involve zombies and he's going for the scare factor but wouldn't mention anything else about his next film.
Personal life
Romero is divorced from Christine Forrest, whom he met on the set of Season of the Witch. They have 3 children together.Romero currently lives in Toronto with his girlfriend, Suzanne Desrocher, whom he met while filming Land of the Dead. They had married in September 2011 on Martha's Vineyard.
http://www.scifimoviepage.com/art_landof.html He took up Canadian Citizenship
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 2009 along with his native citizenship to the U.S.
Influences
Romero ranked his top ten films of all time for the 2002 Sight & SoundSight & Sound
Sight & Sound is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute .Sight & Sound was first published in 1932 and in 1934 management of the magazine was handed to the nascent BFI, which still publishes the magazine today...
Greatest Films Poll. They are The Brothers Karamazov, Casablanca
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
, Dr. Strangelove, High Noon
High Noon
High Noon is a 1952 American Western film directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. The film tells in real time the story of a town marshal forced to face a gang of killers by himself...
, King Solomon's Mines
King Solomon's Mines (1950 film)
King Solomon's Mines is a 1950 adventure film loosely based on the 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines by Henry Rider Haggard, starring Deborah Kerr, Stewart Granger and Richard Carlson. It was adapted by Helen Deutsch, directed by Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
, North by Northwest
North by Northwest
North by Northwest is a 1959 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, and featuring Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau...
(a film on which a teenaged Romero worked as a gofer
Gofer
A gofer or go-fer is an employee who is often sent on errands. "Gofer" reflects the likelihood of instructions to go for coffee, dry cleaning, or stamps, or to make other straightforward or familiar procurements. The term gofer originated in North America...
), The Quiet Man
The Quiet Man
The Quiet Man is a 1952 American Technicolor romantic comedy-drama film. It was directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Victor McLaglen and Barry Fitzgerald. It was based on a 1933 Saturday Evening Post short story by Maurice Walsh...
, Repulsion
Repulsion
Repulsion is a 1965 British psychological thriller film directed by Roman Polanski, based on a scenario by Gérard Brach and Roman Polanski. It was Polanski's first English language film, and was shot in Britain, as such being his second film made outside his native Poland. The cast includes...
, Touch of Evil
Touch of Evil
Touch of Evil is a 1958 American crime thriller film, written, directed by, and co-starring Orson Welles. The screenplay was loosely based on the novel Badge of Evil by Whit Masterson...
and The Tales of Hoffman
The Tales of Hoffmann (film)
The Tales of Hoffmann is a 1951 British film adaptation of Jacques Offenbach's opera Les contes d'Hoffmann, written, produced and directed by the team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger working under the umbrella of their production company, The Archers...
. Romero listed the films in alphabetical order, with special placement given to The Tales of Hoffman, which he cites as "my favourite film of all time; the movie that made me want to make movies."
Awards and nominations
On October 27, 2009, Romero was honored with the Mastermind Award at Spike TV's Scream 2009Scream Awards
The Scream Awards is an award show dedicated to the horror, sci-fi, and fantasy genres of feature films. Originally only having Scream Queen and Heroic Performance awards for actors, the personnel awards have expanded to include actors and actresses of all three recognized genres. In addition,...
. The tribute was presented by longtime Romero fan Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
, who stated in his speech that the "A" in George A. Romero stood for "A fucking genius."
Legacy
In 2010, writer and actor Mark GatissMark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss is an English actor, screenwriter and novelist. He is best known as a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen, and has both written for and acted in the TV series Doctor Who and Sherlock....
interviewed Romero for his BBC documentary series A History of Horror
A History of Horror
A History of Horror is a 2010 three-part documentary series made for the BBC by British writer and actor Mark Gatiss...
, in which he appears in the third episode.
Books
- Dawn of the Dead (with Susan Sparrow; movie tie-in), 1979
- Bizarro! by Tom SaviniTom SaviniThomas Vincent "Tom" Savini is an American actor, stuntman, director, award-winning special effects and makeup artist. He is known for his work on the Living Dead films directed by George A. Romero, as well as Creepshow, The Burning, Friday the 13th, The Prowler, and Maniac. He directed the 1990...
(foreword), 1984 - Martin (with Susan Sparrow; movie tie-in), 1984
- Book of the DeadBook of the Dead (anthology)Book of the Dead is an anthology of horror stories first published in 1989, edited by John Skipp and Craig Spector. All the stories in the anthology are united by the same premise seen in the apocalyptic films of George A. Romero, depicting a worldwide outbreak of zombies and various reactions to it...
edited by John SkippJohn SkippJohn Skipp is a splatterpunk horror and fantasy author and anthology editor, as well as a songwriter, screenwriter, film director, and film producer. He collaborated with Craig Spector on the 1989 anthology Book of the Dead, and has also collaborated with Marc Levinthal and Cody Goodfellow...
and Craig SpectorCraig SpectorCraig Spector is a bestselling author and screenwriter whose eleven books have sold millions of copies and are reprinted in nine languages.-Biography:...
(foreword), 1989 - Toe Tags #1-6 ("The Death of Death"; DC ComicsDC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
), 2004–2005 - ZOMBIES! An Illustrated History of the Undead Foreword Written by George A. Romero
- The Extraordinary Adventures of Dog mendonça and Pizzaboy - Apocalypse by Filipe Melo and Juan Cavia (foreword), 2011
Critical studies
- Gagne, Paul R. The Zombies That Ate Pittsburgh: the Films of George A. Romero (New York: Dodd, Mead 1987)
- Newman, KimKim NewmanKim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
. Nightmare Movies: A Critical History of the Horror Film 1968–1988 (1988) - Williams, Tony. Knight of the Living Dead: The Cinema of George A. Romero (London: Wallflower Press 2003)
External links
- New York Times short bio
- Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database
- George Romero @ THE DEUCE: Grindhouse Cinema Database
Interviews