G. Cameron Romero Planning ‘Living Dead’ Prequel

The origins of the GOAT zombie series (sit down, Walking Dead-ites) and the cause of the zombie outbreak were never explained.  Maybe that was part of the fun of the series and what helped give it weight in terms of mythos and presence.  We’ve all wanted another one of these movies and while George Romero may be too old to go through the rigours of making another, his son wants to continue the legacy, exploring those untapped origins.

George Cameron Romero is launching a kickstarter (yes, that’s becoming a dirty word, I agree, but this is the Romero family and the original movie was filmed on dollars and coupons…) campaign to get the ball rolling on a prequel.  Here is the synopsis according to the official site:

“In 1962, Dr. Ryan Cartwright was on the scientific and altruistic path to find a way for humans to sustain life in the event of Mutual Assured Destruction. Little did he know that over the course of the next several years of his life, he would take a well-funded and military journey to the darkest corners of the world…and his mind as he creates the ultimate weapon for the government and a curse that will plague mankind for the rest of days. His creation would prove to be an unstoppable force capable of anything and controllable at the will of their creator. His friends will become his enemies and his enemies will raise the stakes to achieve victory at all costs.”

Romero requires $150,000, which is only to get things rolling and not reflective of the total budget.  For once, this is a crowdfunding campaign I’d actually support.

But at the same time it’s also sad that even as zombie fever is at an all time high, for a property like this Romero can’t find funding.  We have total pigshit like Anderson’s Resident Evil working from ad-infinitum budgets yet of ever inversely tumbling quality, yet the genesis of the genre can’t get its place at the table to cover an outbreak story – which is rarely discussed in any zombie movie.

Get ’em, George Jr…