George A. Romero’s 1968 Night of the Living Dead is one of the most influential movies ever, though these days its reverberations are most often felt in unrelated works that continue to explore the zombie-powered ideas it popularised. A new project from an exciting new director, however, will have a more direct link to Romero’s classic.
As Deadline reports, Nikyatu Jusu — director of the eerie, excellent Nanny, which hits Prime Video this week — is making a Night of the Living Dead sequel (produced in part by Romero’s Sanibel Films), with Amazon’s MGM division poised to pick up worldwide rights for a theatrical release. It’ll be written by LaToya Morgan, whose many credits include the thematically appropriate The Walking Dead. There’s no word on any plot details thus far, but Deadline notes the project is “intended to reignite Night of the Living Dead as a franchise;” the trade, which had the scoop on the news, also calls it a “sequel” rather than a reboot or a prequel or reimagining or anything else.
Based on the strength of Nanny and the enduring awesomeness of Romero’s legacy, this all sounds promising — but we’d be remiss in not pointing out that Night of the Living Dead already has a perfect sequel in 1978’s Dawn of the Dead. Still, Jusu is incredibly talented and we’re looking forward to seeing her point of view on a genre that could always use some fresh, uh, brains working on it.
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