Although he didn’t create the zombie movie, the late, great George A. Romero undoubtedly contributed to its rise to fame with his “Dead” series. The starting point was Romero’s now-iconic low-budget shocker “Night of the Living Dead,” which debuted in 1968 and went on to become a huge smash. “Night of the Living Dead” (1968), “Dawn of the Dead” (1978), “Day of the Dead” (1985), “Land of the Dead” (2005), “Diary of the Dead” (2007), and “Survival of the Dead” (2009) are the six “Dead” movies that Romero would ultimately direct. Even if there are fans of the later movies, most people think that “Night,” “Dawn,” and “Day”—the original trilogy—are the best ones. “Dawn” is frequently praised as the series’ masterpiece.
However, it’s crucial to keep in mind that Romero didn’t precisely plan out this series from the beginning. When he set out to create “Night of the Living Dead,” he had no intention of creating a whole franchise. In fact, when he followed up “Night” with “Dawn,” he wasn’t quite sure where to go with the series. The topic of a third movie in the series came up when Romero first showed Pittsburgh Post-Gazette film reviewer George Anderson video from the then-unreleased “Dawn of the Dead.” Romero offered a far different notion from what “Day of the Dead” ended up becoming.
There might have been zombies in the White House on Day of the Dead.
Romero stated the following in an interview with George Anderson regarding a prospective third picture: “The zombies are a little more sympathetic. We see them organising slightly now and if there’s ever a third film that’s what it will be about.”
He continued by citing renowned horror director Dario Argento and included this intriguing detail:
“Dario Argento, who we’re co-producing this film with, an Italian director, said that the third one has to be ‘Zombies in the White House’. And maybe that’s what it will be, I don’t know.”
Naturally, those who have watched “Day of the Dead” will tell you that’s not the plot of the follow-up; instead, the most of the film takes place in an underground bunker. Still, it’s entertaining to speculate about the political parody Romero may have made with a zombie film set in the White House. The book “The Making of George A. Romero’s Day of the Dead” by Lee Karr claims that a year after his discussion with Anderson, Romero again hinted about a third film. “Everyone wants to do the third part of the Living Dead Trilogy, but I don’t want to do that right now,” Romero stated. “All I have is a sketch for it. I’m threatening to do a ‘Zombies at Home’, a kind of ‘My Three Sons’, non-violent and totally boring.”
