Diary of the Dead 2? Updated: Romero says not yet
Hollywood Reporter confirms that DIARY OF THE DEAD 2 will be a reality:
Although “George A. Romero’s Diary of the Dead” won’t be released until next year, Artfire Films and Romero-Grunwald Prods. have greenlighted a sequel that Romero will direct from his screenplay.
The instant sequel, which will be offered at the American Film Market, will pick up where the first film ends. Fighting their way out of a mansion through a horde of ravenous zombies, the survivors of “Diary” escape to a remote island only to be plunged inot another battle with the dead.Principal photography is set to begin in the spring.
Horror-Fanatics.Com reports that writer-director George A. Romero has drafted a new script, but this seems to be a premature conclusion. According to statements he made in September at the Toronto Film Festival (which we reported here), Romero had no specific plans to begin work on a sequel.
That was over a month ago, but it seems unlikely that Romero could have gotten the greenlight and churned out a completed screenplay in so short a time. Most likely the plot synopsis in the Reporter is based on a treatment.
UPDATE: E-Splatter.Com points us to an IGN interview in which George Romero says the reports of a sequel are premature.
[...] report that George A. Romero had drafted a screenplay for a sequel to DIARY OF THE DEAD. I wrote a post in which I originally described this report as, mostly likely, “wishful thinking” – but [...]