George A. Romero has fully laid claim to the dominion of all things Dead — whether that’s Night of the LivingDawn of theDay of theLand of theDiary of the, or Survival of the. The elder statesman of horror cinema has no intention of resting on his laurels, however. Perhaps riding the wave of renewed interest in Night of the Living Dead that accompanied its gorgeous restoration last year, Romero has announced plans for a new addition to the ever-expanding of the Dead universe. And it looks like his new breed of zombies have a need for speed.

Indiewire reports that the option to co-produce George A. Romero Presents: Road of the Dead will go up for sale at the Fantasia International Film Festival’s market incubator Frontières in Montreal next month. The script comes from Romero and collaborator Matt Birman, and Birman will be the one to get the directorial credit, with Romero on as a producer. The dystopian horror-action film takes place on an isolated island prison, where zombified inmates are forced to race cars in demolition derbies for the amusement of wealthy human spectators. More tantalizing still is the sizzle Birman provided for Indiewire, describing the project as “Road Warrior meets Rollerball at a NASCAR race, with significant inspiration from Ben-Hur.”

So, Death Race 2000 but on an island full of zombies? Sounds like it has the potential to be a disaster, but a beautiful disaster all the same. And Romero’s seal of approval is cause enough for optimism, too. Guard your brains, everyone.

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