Bloody-Disguting is reporting exclusively that MTV is in talks to develop a Dawn Of The Dead show for television. Zack Snyder, who directly the mostly awesome 2004 remake of George Romero’s seminal classic, will not be involved. Early talk suggests it will include a mix of both slow and running zombies, and that the show would be more a spinoff of 2004′s film. I’m hoping this is all a rumor, because I really really don’t want to see The Hills version of a zombie movie.
While it might be entirely enjoyable to see vapid California girls ripped to shreds, this is obviously just an attempt to cash in on a brand. Just throwing it out there, but I’m really sick of “reboots” that do this. If it has nothing to do with the original, just call it something else. If someone’s going to make a zombie television show, can it please be HBO And can it please be based on The Walking Dead. From the bits I’ve seen and incredibly positive word-of-mouth it’s the zombie story to beat right now, aside from Max Brooks’ amazing World War Z novel which is still in development hell.
-Brian
Source: http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/18618
When I clicked through from Twitter, I thought this was a joke and was curious to see what the article was about…The fact that this might actually happen is…I dunno…. I'm not going to lie, I might give it a chance and see what a DAWN OF THE DEAD tv show done MTV style is all about.
I'm guessing it will be scripted and if its anywhere near what the movie was like, a show like this might be watchable on a rainy Saturday afternoon when it airs as a 1700 hour marathon…
It'll probably be something like that Justin Timberlake show, wherein a bunch of really hot girls are thrust into the middle of a zombie apocalypse and set up their base of operations on Rodeo Drive. Wait. I'm pitching this to MTV. No one steal my idea!
Brian
It does sound horrible. Last I heard the Walkong Dead may possibly be a series on AMC fronted by Frank Dabaront (The Mist, Shawshank Redemption). I hope it turns out to actually happen. There have been enough zombie
movies, let’s go ahead and have a TV show.
It'd be interesting to see someone as serious Darabont tackle a zombie story. I hate Mad Men, but I absolutely love Breaking Bad so it could be an interesting fit on AMC.
Brian
Yes after reading this article I was going to bring this to your attention. I think the show would be great if handled by Darabont. Last I heard they were working on a script and getting ready to shoot a pilot to see exactly how it will all look.
It's not even a possibilty but fact that AMC will be developing with Frank Darabont and Gale Anne Hurd a tv series adaptation of The Walking Dead. We may see it in the 2010 fall season or the year after but it definitely will happen.
As for World War Z the sticking point seems to be the script which some who have read the latest draft of call as being a script that could deliver an Oscar-caliber zombie film. Some also say the script tries to follow the book but also changing too many things to create a more traditional narrative.
If things don't pan out don't be surprised if HBO or Showtime end up talking with Brad Pitt's studio about making it into a tv series.
I actually wouldn't mind a series based off of either the original or the remake of Dawn. There's much to be told about not just what the central core characters went through but just other survivors. Now, if it does become Hills meet Zombies then that's like a trainwreck, airplane crash and a train derailment all in one.
I can't dismiss the so-called "pretty people" formular that MTV and CW have been good at since CW has been successful in following that formula but actually making a great series out of it with their very good and popular Supernatural series.
Supernatural is a fluke of the network and is left over from the WB days. While it definitely pulls in ratings and is underrated if Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki were ugly, it would've been canceled. Case in point: Smallville. Pretty people, mildly retarded storytelling. You know it.
I understand what you're saying about a parallel story to the original, and that's what the remake of the film tried to do. I just think you may as well call it something new since it's not going to be about the original in anyway. You can hint at the original, but just call it something else. Dont just cash in on the name. At least have some semblance of being "original."
I said this on another site but I'll say it here as well. I'm not really a big fan of MTV but am a big fan of zombie films. I'm not sure how a zombie tv show would work but I'm sure it could have it's high points. I was also saying that if Romero weren't involved and it was loosely based on his idea, make it something completely different. Also, if it were to be based on the timeline of Romero's second film, make it stay faithful to his work and stay in that decade of filming. Yes, I realize Romero's films take place in different decades but I would love to see something look genuinely like it was from the past.
MTV is a tumor on the spine of entertainment. Has MTV even played a full music video since 1999?
Brian
Well, Romero doesn't have to be involved in a series for it to work. British TV was able to make a zombie mini-series and it worked despite them being the newer Olympic-sprinting zombies. Darabont had it right when he said The Walking Dead would make for a great series not just because of the zombies but how the world moves on with people losing. Then again The Walking Dead is really just every Romero zombie film continuing after the end credits fade to black.
I actually wouldn't mind a series based off of either the original or the remake of Dawn. There's much to be told about not just what the central core characters went through but just other survivors. Now, if it does become Hills meet Zombies then that's like a trainwreck, airplane crash and a train derailment all in one.
I can't dismiss the so-called "pretty people" formular that MTV and CW have been good at since CW has been successful in following that formula but actually making a great series out of it with their very good and popular Supernatural series.
I'm really not sure about a full video since 1999 because that was probably around the time I stopped watching. I'll admit I have turned it there a few times late at night to watch music videos but nothing real recent.
Anyway, yes, MTV does suck sometimes and in no way am I taking up for them, I just want to see something Romero created live on to be something awesome like it once was. I realize this is barely possible with MTV's hands all over it but I can still remain optimistic until the first episode or something similar.