Remakes. I’ve never been entirely opposed to their existence. Several of my favorite movies were technically remakes. I just feel that there should be a statute of limitations when it comes to when a certain film is remade….as in, not more than once a decade.

George Romero‘s Day of the Dead, one of the most gruesome horror films of the 1980s and possibly the last truly great zombie movie the director ever made (Land of the Dead had moments though), is being remade. Those of you with photographic memories will remember fondly when Day got the redux treatment just five years ago under the direction of Steve Miner (Friday the 13th Parts II and III in 3-D) with a cast that included Mena Suvari, Nick Cannon, and Ving Rhames.

The latest Day is being produced by Lati Grobman and Christa Campbell, who both also served in a similar capacity on the hit rebootquel Texas Chainsaw 3D that was released in January, through their company Campbell Grobman Films. Oddly enough Campbell also worked on the previous Day remake but as an actress.

“Zombie movies are really popular right now, and we feel we could do this right,” said Campbell, who acquired the rights to Day with Grobman from Taurus Entertainment’s James and Robert Dudelson, producers of the previous remake who will also help bring the new Day to the big screen. The project is being produced in conjunction with Millennium Films, makers of fine Sylvester Stallone and Nicolas Cage movies, and is expected to have a budget in the range of $10-20 million. Millennium execs Avi Lerner, Boaz Davidson, and Mark Gill will also serve as producers.

The new producers hope to keep their Day of the Dead close as possible to the spirit of Romero’s original. Campbell explained, saying:

I have to say, the news that Day of the Dead is being remade for the first time since the year President Obama was first elected to office is so much more pleasing to me than…say….hearing that George Romero was given an actual budget to make one of his own movies so he doesn’t have to resort to employing cheap CGI gore and substandard Canadian acting talent. Yeah, that was a steaming pile of sarcasm. Sorry. Whatever, this movie is going to happen and most likely will be in 3D. There’s money out to be made from watching brain-dead cannibals devouring human flesh in gruesome blood color: The Walking Dead continues to draw huge ratings on cable television and World War Z defied months of bad buzz and mixed reviews to become an unexpected summer smash.

Marketed right and it will lure in enough suckers to the first weekend box office to ensure more pointless zombie mayhem hits our theater screens and Target new release shelves for many years to come. Meanwhile, Romero will do the right thing and stay home that weekend.

And Tom Savini? He weeps. The man weeps for us.

[Source: LA Times]