One thing is for sure, George A. Romero still has loads of fans. At this week's world premiere of the film here in Toronto the film ended to a standing ovation loaded with hoots and hollers. Good news for you guys as the Weinstein Company has acquired Romero's fifth zombie film, Diary of the Dead (review) for US THEATRICAL Distribution! Read on for the skinny.
The dead have risen. In a sale that once seemed as slow as a zombie, Weinstein Co. stepped up and bought North American and Mexican rights to "George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead" for $2 to $2.5 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The latest sequel to Romero's 1968 horror classic "Night of the Living Dead closed Tuesday night after several offers were considered, including some for video-only distribution. The Weinstein Co. deal includes a theatrical commitment.
With a story mixing elements of "The Blair Witch Project" and the long-running "Dead" series, the film will follow a group of college students shooting a horror movie in the woods who stumble upon 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.
While R-rated horror movies didn't perform well at the boxoffice earlier this summer, the Weinstein Co.'s "Halloween," released by MGM, bucked the trend with a record-breaking Labor Day opening. "Dead" premieredlate Saturday in the Midnight Madness section at Toronto and spooked out crowds.
The Artfire Films/Romero-Grunwald Productions film was written and directed by Romero, produced by Peter Grunwald, Art Spigel, Sam Englebardt and Ara Katz, and executive produced by Dan Fireman, John Harrison and Steve Barnett. Cinetic Media repped the filmmakers in the sale. The Weinstein Co.'s Barry Gordon and and Michal Podell repped the sale for the distributor.
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The dead have risen. In a sale that once seemed as slow as a zombie, Weinstein Co. stepped up and bought North American and Mexican rights to "George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead" for $2 to $2.5 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
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