Land of the Dead: According to Variety, George Romero is set to direct Land of the Dead, a horror film that picks up on the zombie saga he hatched with Night of the Living Dead and continued with Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead.

The film, from Romero's own script, will begin in October in Winnipeg or Pittsburgh. Latter was the site of shooting for Romero's original 1968 zombie trilogy.

In Romero's new pic, the zombies having taken over the world and those left alive are confined to a walled-in city that keeps out the corpse corps. Anarchy rules the streets, with the wealthy insulated and living in fortified skyscrapers. Drama revolves around a group of scavengers who must thwart an attempt to overthrow the city while the dead are evolving from brainless slow-moving creatures into more advanced creatures.

Canton said Romero's early work was the touchstone for a slew of current horror hits and that his script showed the master hadn't lost his touch.

He and Goldmann described the film as "Night of the Living Dead" meets "The Road Warrior," and Wild Bunch's Vincent Grimond sparked to the overseas potential. The two companies have the ability to cover the budget themselves but expect to land a domestic distributor before the zombies wreak havoc in the fall.

Romero had been developing Diamond Dead, a black comedy musical that's being produced by Scott Free and Andrew Gaty, and he also scripted an adaptation of the Stephen King novel "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon," which he may direct for Canadian financier Don Archibald and Lions Gate. But he jumped at the chance to dig up the dead again.

"People ask me why I've waited so long to do another 'Dead' film," Romero said. "I made one in the '60s, one in the '70s and one in the '80s. The only reason I missed the '90s is because I wanted to stay faithful to the tradition while coming up with something new."

Romero's new film will have a budget in the teens. The original cost $140,000 and grossed $20 million worldwide, becoming one of the most profitable films of all time. The first sequel, "Dawn of the Dead" cost $1.2 million and grossed $40 million worldwide.

Dont't forget to also check out: George A. Romero's Land of the Dead

George A. Romero's Land of the Dead was released June 24th, 2005 and stars Simon Baker, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento, Robert Joy, Eugene Clark, Joanne Boland, Tony Nappo. The film is directed by George A. Romero.