Movies
Magnet Releasing Scores US Rights to George Romero’s ‘Survival of the Dead’!
The Wagner/Cuban Companies’ Magnet Releasing, genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, announced today that it has acquired US rights to George A. Romero’s Survival of the Dead, the latest in the legendary and beloved series of zombie films which bowed at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals earlier this year. Romero, one of the most influential and respected horror auteurs of all time, has created a new, terrifying vision that combines viscerally gory undead action with biting social commentary and a return to the black humor and playfulness of his seminal film, Dawn of the Dead. Magnet will release the film as part of its Ultra VOD program this spring, debuting it on VOD platforms nationwide a month before its theatrical release.
Like its predecessors, GEORGE A. ROMERO’S SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD takes place in a desperate, nightmarish world where the dead walk the earth, relentlessly attacking the living. It is the story of Plum Island – a beautiful refuge whose isolation allows two powerful families to maintain a semblance of order in the wake of the zombie holocaust. But as the inhabitants slowly die off, the two clans become sharply divided: the O’Flynns believe that the undead must be destroyed without exception, while the Muldoons insist that afflicted loved ones be kept “alive” until a cure is found. The result is an escalating showdown with echoes of a classic Western stand-off that erupts in brutality and violence.
“George A. Romero is an undisputed cinematic legend, and we’re honored to be bringing another installment of this incredible series of films to horror fans,” said Magnolia President Eamonn Bowles. “SURVIVAL is smart, extremely fun and a worthy addition to the `Of the Dead’ franchise.”
Says Romero, “I’m a big admirer of the team at Magnolia. They’re creative and passionate, and I’m excited to put “Survival” in their hands.”
The deal was negotiated by Magnolia’s Senior Vice President Tom Quinn with Victoria Cook for Cinetic Media, on behalf of Art Spigel and Ara Katz of Artfire Films and Peter Grunwald of Romero-Grunwald Productions.
Two things that have proven to be pretty dependable at the box office in recent years are horror movies and Christopher Nolan movies. With Nolan’s The Odyssey absolutely dominating the box office this past weekend, many fans of Nolan’s work have been left hungry for a Nolan-directed horror movie. After all, The Odyssey does whet the appetite for Nolan nightmare fuel.
Christopher Nolan has brushed up against the horror genre in the past with 2002 thriller Insomnia, but does he have any interest in someday making a full-on horror movie?
Nolan tells the Empire Podcast in a new chat, “I’ve always been interested in doing a horror film.”
“But horror is most successful when the conceptual framework of whatever the story is is just so undeniable. I think there are very few really great horror movies,” Nolan continues.
So why hasn’t Christopher Nolan directed a horror movie yet?
He explains to Empire, “I’ve never clicked with a particular idea or concept that worked for me. I love the genre. Of all genres, it’s the most visceral. Where the direct response to the audience is the most important. That is to say, you’re trying to make people literally feel something in their bones about what’s going on on-screen.”
Nolan calls horror “a genre in which experimentation is demanded.” He explains, “I go to see a lot of horror films with my kids these days, and you’ll see things in the first half an hour, 45 minutes of any horror film that you’d never see in another genre. Risks that are taken. Dangerous approaches to things. Admittedly, a lot of movies can’t sustain that to the end. But in the horror genre, that kind of innovation is not just respected – it’s really demanded.”
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is now playing in theaters.
Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)
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