The legacy of George A. Romero’s zombie movies will live on with a brand new movie headed to Tubi. Festival of the Dead is set to be directed by the Soska sisters, aka Jen and Sylvia Soska, which will actually take place in the same universe as Romero’s original undead classic Night of the Living Dead. While it won’t exactly be a sequel, it will pick up 50 years after the events depicted in the 1968 cinematic masterpiece.
According to Deadline, Ashley Moore (I Know What You Did Last Summer) and Camren Bicondova (Gotham) have been tapped to headline the cast as college student Ash and her best friend, Iris, respectively. Helen Marsh and Miriam Lyapin penned the screenplay. As for how the Soska Sisters’ latest will fit into the Living Dead universe, so to speak? The synopsis for the film reads as follows:
“It has been over 50 years since Night of the Living Dead’s original zombie attack and the horrific event has become the subject of morbid nostalgia. Looking for fun, Ash (Moore) and her friends attend the Festival of the Living Dead, but it is disrupted when a blast of radioactive space dust hits the festival and they must defend themselves or be devoured by the living dead.”
What’s interesting about Night of the Living Dead is that the film is actually in the public domain, so nobody can really get in the way of filmmakers playing with that material. Hence, an in-universe film such as this can exist without dealing with a lot of legal red tape. The ensemble cast also includes the likes of Andre Anthony (The Night Agent), Christian Rose, Shiloh O’Reilly, Gage Marsh (You Me Her), Keana Lyn Bastidas (The Hardy Boys) and Maia Jae Bastidas (Rabbit Hole).
Meanwhile, this is not the first rodeo for the Soska Sisters by any stretch of the imagination. The duo has helmed features such as See No Evil 2, Vendetta and Rabid, as well as a particularly disturbing segment in The ABCs of Death 2. Now, they’re making their mark on one of the most legendary horror franchises of all time. No pressure. Tubi, for its part, hasn’t been shy about producing original horror films, having released a remake of Terror Train last year, which also got a sequel.
Festival of the Living Dead does not have a specific release date but look for it on Tubi in the fall.
