The final entry in George A. Romero‘s Living Dead franchise has found its leads, and one of them is very familiar with tangling with the undead. Per Deadline, Milla Jovovich, known for leading Paul W.S. Anderson‘s franchise of Resident Evil movies, is joining Twilight of the Dead alongside Get Out alum Betty Gabriel. Based on a treatment written by Romero before his death in 2017, the film will be directed by The Machinist helmer Brad Anderson and is set to finally begin production at last in March 2025. Fortitude International will open sales on the film at next week’s American Film Market.
Twilight of the Dead will take the franchise to a tropical island as humanity’s final days draw near. Sources say it will “delve into the dark nature of humanity from the perspective of the last humans on earth who are caught between factions of the undead.” Further details about the film have been hard to come by, but John Baldecchi, the Head of Scripted at producer Roundtable Entertainment Holdings, has assured it will be a fitting end to Romero‘s long and winding franchise that includes six titles thus far and multiple spin-offs and adjacent projects stemming back to 1968’s Night of the Living Dead. He has similarly described it as a story all about humanity’s tendency to bring about its own destruction and how the survivors grapple with that reality.
Fittingly, the Living Dead franchise will end with Greg Nicotero and his KNB EFX Group on board to create and lead the makeup design for the undead. Nicotero‘s legendary career began with Night of the Living Dead and Romero, and he’s since become a force in the industry with four Emmy wins to his name and a resume that includes The Walking Dead, Sin City, and Creepshow, the latter of which he developed into a series based on Romero‘s film. Paolo Zelati co-wrote the treatment for Twilight with Romero and penned the screenplay alongside Joe Knetter and Robert Lucas. When looking at the team the film has gathered and the story he’s working with, Anderson compared the project to some towering, emotional works of horror media, saying:
“I see this film in the same way as successful post-apocalyptic thrillers such as I Am Legend, A Quiet Place , The Road , and The Last of Us — genre stories that are as emotional as they are intense. When I first read Twilight of The Dead I teared up at the end. Which is weird for a film of this type. But it has that kind of pull, that combo of horror and heartbreak that I love.”
Milla Jovovich Returns to Zombie Killing With ‘Twilight of the Dead’
After earlier roles in The Fifth Element and Dazed and Confused, Jovovich spent a lot of time fighting zombies with Resident Evil, spanning six films starting from the 2002 original and ending with 2016’s Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. Since then, however, she’s steered clear of the genre, more recently appearing in the 2019 Hellboy reboot and another game adaptation in 2020’s Monster Hunter before briefly stepping away until this year’s Breathe.
Roundtable‘s Sarah Donnelly was excited to bring Jovovich back to the genre at long last alongside Gabriel, who also boasts turns in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan and Upgrade. “We’re thrilled to share Milla Jovovich’s return to the zombie genre in this fresh and original way with Twilight of the Dead,” she said. “With Brad’s masterful, visionary direction and Milla’s unique ability to command the screen as a Bona fide action star with emotional depth and resiliency, there’s no doubt this film will be a riveting, compelling standout in the genre.”
Stay tuned here at Collider for more on Twilight of the Dead as it nears production in March 2025.
via Collider