George A. Romero’s 1985 horror classic Day of the Dead is an incredible moment in the influential filmmaker’s filmography. While it didn’t do as incredibly well as Dawn of the Dead upon its initial release, Day of the Dead still managed to become something of a cult classic with today’s audiences. Netflix’s Stranger Things even had some pretty major Day of the Dead references throughout its third season – but it looks like that won’t be the only way fans will be getting their Day of the Dead fix on television. That’s right, it’s been announced that a new Day of the Dead TV series is in the works!
According to Deadline, it appears that Syfy has given a surprising ten episode order to produce a Day of the Dead TV series inspired by the classic 1985 horror film. While there aren’t many details available at this time, given the early announcement and all, we still do have some kind of plot breakdown.
Apparently the series will focus on a group of six strangers as they survive the first 24 hours of an undead apocalypse. Obviously that seems pretty far removed from the film version of Day of the Dead, considering that movie is notorious for taking place far into the future of Romero’s zombie apocalypse. Not to mention the plot doesn’t include anything about the military or the bunker setting used in the original film – but perhaps we’ll still see those elements used once we learn more about the series.
Nevertheless, a Day of the Dead series does sound intriguing. The original film hasn’t had the best of luck when it comes to continuations or other spin-offs thus far. Obviously Romero didn’t make an authentic sequel, as is the case with most of his zombie movies, but the company that somehow got rights to the title has had more than one film made based on the property. There’s Day of the Dead 2: Contagion and two remakes which all somehow have failed to meet audience’s expectations. Perhaps they’ll meet the mark this time around with a Day of the Dead TV series?
The show was written by its showrunners Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas. Cartel Entertainment is behind the show.
Syfy’s Day of the Dead TV series is expected to premiere sometime in 2021.