THE DEAD TIMES
DEAD ARE COMING...
2020: Preview of the Dead: Part 2 - Movies
2019 is settling into its grave but, the freshly exhumed corpse that is the year 2020 still lies upon the dissection table, wriggling and squirming as only a newly animated cadaver would given the lethal incisions already made. The foremost cuts examined the fabled video games, crawling among its claggy flesh. However, something still squirms within and this time the teasers of discovery will go deeper, unearthing foulness even more despicable than the electronic marvels that came before. Yes, the time has come to study the films coming in 2020 and, while there may only be a few truly new morsels (those lingering beasts already known to undead scientology being referenced in a special MIA appendix), oh yes, there will be blood.
Dead Earth
From Wych Kaosayananda, director of Zombie film The Driver, comes another Zombie-action flick set in the very same universe; Dead Earth. Two young women struggle to stay alive in an abandoned holiday resort while the world around them falls to relentless undead hordes. However, they are not the only ones clinging onto life as, when they are forced out of their camp due to a lack of fuel, they have an encounter with other survivors - survivors that have a different way of staying alive. The true horror though, lurks back at their unsecured and abandoned hideout...
Army of the Dead
The sequel to Zack Snyder’s remake of Dawn of the Dead in 2004 is finally going to see the light of day in 2020 thanks to Netflix. Oddly, for such a major film that fans have been wanting for over 15 years, we know very little about it other than it stars retired-wrestler Dave Bautista and follows the brief plotline; after a Zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries see this as the perfect cover for the greatest heist ever attempted.
Untitled The Walking Dead Movie
This one is a little weird. Back in 2018, a series of three movies set in the Walking Dead universe were announced. Everyone assumed these would be TV movies, distributed through the AMC channel (the channel of the company behind the TV show). However - surprise, surprise; 2019 saw the announcement that the first movie in the trilogy will actually release direct to cinemas. It will also star Rick Grimes, covering what happened to the character after he departed the TV series in November 2018.
One Cut of The Dead English-language remake
One Cut of the Dead was a huge surprise when it was released in Japan back at the tail end of 2018. Made on a miniscule budget of $25,000 and originally planned for only a 6-day small scale release to local theatres, the film saw increasingly high-praise and exceptional demand, in the end grossing over $30.5 million worldwide, making box office history for earning over a thousand times its budget. The story revolves around a group of unknown Japanese actors trying to make a Zombie movie when, low and behold, a real Zombie outbreak happens - although the movie is not quite that simple. Having reviewed the movie myself, right here on The Dead Times, and given it a whopping 4-star rating, I can confirm it is a lot of fun so when I learned about the English-language remake, I was over joyed. Unfortunately, there is not a lot more information than 'it will be made'. Other than a list of attached producers, the only thing certain about the film is that it will utilise a similarly small budget to try to capture the magic of the original.
Blood Quantum
This unique little Canadian horror film puts an unusual twist on the Zombie apocalypse by combining it with heavy social commentary. When the dead start to come back to life outside the isolated Mi'gMaq reserve of Red Crow and attempt to devour the living, the only people who are immune to the walking death disease are the land's original inhabitants. What they are not immune from however, is the consequences for the rest of the world including a wave of white refugees seeking shelter on the reserve.
MIA
Night of the Living Dead Part II
Announced in November 2018, a company called Living Dead Media claimed to be bringing the long-forgotten second part of George Romero's classic Night of the Living Dead to screen. Apparently, the script for this second film had been written when George Romero and John Russo where still working together after the release of the original movie. However, and here comes the bad news; nothing has been heard of the movie following its out-of-the-blue announcement. A quick Internet search for Living Dead Media does not return an official company website and the team has previously stated that Part II would be released in 2019. To me, it looks like this one - which always seemed a dubious prospect - is not going to make it.
Train to Busan II
Now for some good news; the follow-up to sublime Korean Zombie movie Train to Busan is definitely going ahead. In fact, its already nearing distribution in its native country of Korea with a wide-scale international distribution likely to follow soon after (early rumours suggest a August 12th 2020 release date). Being called Peninsula, the film, set in the same time-period of the original, during the same Zombie apocalypse, expands the chaotic action to the entire Korean peninsula.
Resident Evil movie reboot
Things seem a little odd with the planned reboot of the Resident Evil movies; the news feed goes quite for ages and then, suddenly, an insane amount of information floods in. Still, we know next to nothing of the plot the movie will follow. Director Johannes Roberts has confirmed that the movie will not be an all-action gunfest like the original 7 films but a "super, super scary" feature that is "getting back to the roots of the game". He has also confirmed that the project is in active development at the moment so it's reassuring to know that it is only a matter of time before the finished product sees the light of day.
Train to Busan English-language remake
It was announced way back in December 2016 that hit Korean Zombie movie Train to Busan was to be remade in the English-language. In September 2018, it was announced that James Wan was producing the film and Gary Dauberman, writing the script. However, that is where the trail goes cold as no more information has come to light since. The future for this one looks worrying.
Nightmare City remake
We are well and truly into the bad news section now, people as the campaign to remake the Italian Zombie film, Nightmare City, has spent yet another year in the doldrums of development hell. Yes, the Indiegogo project to fund the initial stages of the remake, way back in 2015, did raise a tonne of money and there is a still a faint glimmer of hope for the rebooted movie (to be directed by the legendary Tom Savini) but, as it stands, I cannot see this project finding the momentum it deserves.
Rise of the Living Dead
In the second big disappointment, Rise of the Living Dead - the prequel to Night of the Living Dead, officially sanctioned by George Romero himself, and to be directed by his very own son, Cameron Romero - seems to have vanished back into whatever quagmire of villainy it came from. There has been literally no news for what seems like ages. Cameron was, at some stage, giving monthly updates after he saw the backers of his Indiegogo campaign to launch the movie started to grow restless with the lack of progress. These updates, contained little hopeful information and quickly dried up, leaving the project, once more, in limbo.
George A. Romero presents; Road of the Dead
In what is perhaps the biggest let-down to date is precisely what is happening with George Romero's final movie. It was never going to be directed by George and following his death in 2017, we did get confirmation that the movie was still going forward - it even earned a surprisingly high-quality prelude comic; Road of the Dead: Highway to Hell. However, since that time, scarce details have come through making it almost certain that the project has been cancelled. I'll have to stop writing there as even the thought of a Zombie movie that the 'Godfather of the Dead' attached his name to will never see the light of day, leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
DESCRIPTION:
As we proceed into 2020, Zombie projects both new and old come into unholy light. In the second part of this preview article series, we'll examine a long-running favourite of Zombie-fans; movies.
CATEGORY:
Preview of the Dead
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DATE UPLOADED:
12/01/2020