Tina Romero to ‘Keep the Romero Zombie Alive’ in Queens of the Dead

Summary

• Tina Romero carries on her father’s legacy with
  Queens of the Dead
  , a glam gore zom-com set to premiere in 2025.
• The film features slow-moving classic Romero zombies and DIY weaponry, ditching guns for a more unique approach.
• George A. Romero approved Tina’s idea for the film before his passing, paving the way for a fresh take on the zombie genre.

In 1968, writer/director George A. Romero unleashed a film upon the world that has had lasting implications not only on the horror genre, but on cinema as a whole. Night of the Living Dead introduced audiences to the modern zombie as we know it, and Romero’s daughter, Tina Romero, looks to keep that legacy alive with her new film, Queens of the Dead, which is slated to go into production this month.

Speaking with Fangoria, Tina Romero gave viewers a glimpse of what they can expect from Queens of the Dead, which aims to follow in her late father’s footsteps by bringing audiences a zombie film for the time. While the original Night of the Living Dead reflected a society that was (and still is) simmering with racial tensions and political divide, Queens looks to deliver a film that’s – in addition to the times we live in – reflective of the filmmaker herself. She describes Queens of the Dead as a “glam gore zom-com.”

“My perspective on the world is female, it’s queer, and it’s very dance-y. And I describe what I’m going for as a ‘glam gore zom-com.’ There… might be some glitter in the blood.”

Queens of the Dead will also stick to the classic Romero zombie formula by featuring zombies she describes as “slow moving, one bite turns you, got to take out the brain, a little lingering sense of humanity.” The screenplay was co-written with comedian and novelist, Erin Judge, with the story taking place over the course of one night. In true Romero fashion, the main character of the film just happens to be a retired drag queen.

“It takes place over one night, at the beginning of the dead rising. We find ourselves at a big warehouse party in Bushwick. We’ve got a party promoter for whom everything’s going wrong, and her lead act has dropped out, so she needs to call upon a friend — a retired drag queen — to resurrect his drag, to come and save the night. And it turns out to be a night of many resurrections. And our motley crew of characters find themselves holed up in a Bushwick nightclub, having to decide ‘do we get out of here or do we board the place up?’”

“And they’ve got to survive the night. It’s about a group of non-fighters finding the survival skills deep within.”

George A. Romero Gave Queens of the Dead His Blessing

While Queens of the Dead is set to premiere in 2025, it’s something that Tina Romero has been working on for quite a while. The idea came to her when she was a DJ for a regular weekend party and the co-promoter branched off to start his own rival affair on the same night, leading to the promoter for Romero’s bash asking the question, “When will the queer community stop devouring its own?” She says the idea hit her “like a bolt of lightning.”

“I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is the way into the genre for me.’ I want to look at zombies through the lens of going out,
and specifically within this community
.”

George A. Romero passed away on July 16, 2017, with his wife Suzanne and Tina by his side, and while he never got to see a first draft of the project, she says she did get to pitch the idea to her father, of which he greatly approved.

“I got to pitch it to my dad, and he said, ‘Take it, run with it. I love it.’ And unfortunately, he passed before I had a draft.”

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Unlike past Romero zombie films that rely on lots of guns and ammo to take down the undead, Ms. Romero’s film will forgo the familiar trope in favor of more DIY weaponry. She says that the absence of guns is “one of the large conceits of this film.”

“There will be no guns in this movie. I think it’s very boring to kill zombies with guns. And this is all about DIY. What kind of weapons is a drag queen going to make on this night, out of what they have in the green room? ‘No guns’ is one of the large conceits of this film.”

It sounds like audiences are in for a real treat in 2025 as the Romero legacy lives on with Tina Romero and Queens of the Dead. More details on the film will be made available as the summer progresses.

Night of the Living Dead
is available to stream pretty much everywhere, but if you’re looking for a quick link, you can catch it on
Peacock
.

Sara Jabbari

You can view the original article HERE.