Some sad news this evening, with Variety reporting that legendary filmmaker George A. Romero has passed away in his sleep following a brief but aggressive battle with lung cancer. He was 77 years old.
The godfather of the zombie movie, Romero made his filmmaking debut in 1968 with the hugely influential Night of the Living Dead, which was followed by the sequels Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead, along with the more recent Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead.
In addition to his zombie series, Romero directed a number of other projects, including The Crazies, Creepshow and The Dark Half. He had recently announced that he would be writing and producing another instalment of the Dead franchise, Road of the Dead, which just this past week he described as “The Fast and the Furious with zombies.”
