A Few Thoughts on the Upcoming ‘Sequel’ to ‘Night of the Living Dead’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

It’s no secret that I am massive fan of the zombie genre and anything and everything that George A. Romero has contributed to it. For his Dead saga was groundbreaking from the get go and it features a series of films that I re-visit often since they still manage to terrify and unsettle me after all these years and they inspire as well since they are so well made and I’ve made a point as the years roll on to try and help others understand their wonder as well by introducing them to the uninitiated whenever possible.
 
Some have taken to it immediately, while others brush it off and regardless of the results, the important thing is that George’s amazing work is being shared and that’s why I was elated to hear that Night of the Living Dead was returning to theaters for the 50th Anniversary since it would help to further celebrate a magnificent and relevant motion picture and hopefully, some folks who had never seen it before on the big screen would get the opportunity to enjoy this film with a fan and maybe, just maybe, dive into the rest of the saga from that point on. 
 
Of course, I made sure to catch this re-release in theaters, with my good buddy and fellow writer for this site Joel, since he was trying to learn more about this universe and it was simply magical to see it on the silver screen and see all Romero’s colleagues and friends and family take the time to celebrate this film and George’s contributions to cinema in a beautiful feature before the film got underway. Yet, while it was a blast to see this movie in a darkened theater once again, the lasting joy that came with this celebration, turned to confusion in my mind when last week, I started seeing some interesting posts pop up in my social media feed revolving around how a direct sequel to NOTLD is now in the works.
 
Which quite frankly, I don’t quite know how I feel about this news. Well, that’s disingenuous of me. I do know how I feel about this…I don’t like it one bit and my disdain exists in large part due to the fact that…we’ve already received five direct sequels to Night. After all, Dawn of the Dead takes place three weeks after the first film and Day of the Dead and Land of the Dead take places months and years after Night and hell, Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead happen during the same night in question and shortly after NOTLD respectively and well, it just seems unnecessary to make a sequel when follows ups, and quality ones at that already exist and what bothers me more, is the secrecy revolving around this new project. 

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​Because all the details we have on this right now, is that ‘the original producers and writers’ wrote a sequel to the original that was never produced and well, I’m betting some things happened that we don’t know about that kept said sequel from ever moving forward, and John Russo’s decision to create his own Living Dead franchise lends credence to the possibility of a creative split within the team and while I understand the push that exists to get all of George’s recently unearthed and un-produced screenplays moved to production so all can enjoy the wonder of his mind for years to come, maybe the people behind the scenes need to slow and think upon this one.
 
For the Dead saga as it stands now is a masterpiece, and there have been plenty of ugly and embarrassing spin offs and sequels that remind us just how good the original six truly are (looking at you Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition), so releasing this just seems superfluous and I’m sure to some, a cash grab. And while I don’t believe George’s family is trying to be greedy, I genuinely do think they’re trying to bring more their father’s work into the limelight, this one…they can probably skip. There’s no need to see an offshoot sequel, instead work on getting Richard Rubinstein to release the rights to Dawn of the Dead to a company like Scream Factory so we can get an updated and remastered cut of that masterpiece, and…work harder instead on those unproduced screenplays.
 
Because this really is a grand chance to see what other ideas George had in mind for cinema and understand what kind of art he wanted to create outside of the world of the dead and that…would be a far better legacy to build for George since we could now see his complete body of work on the silver screen. So instead, maybe just release this script in print. Let the fans read it and enjoy it that way, so the original six can remain the iconic pieces of work George always intended for them to be. That’s the best way to handle his legacy, in my humble opinion and it will be interesting to see if the powers that be come to that same realization, or let this project continue forward. 

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