I'm gonna come right out and say it, this could be 100% bullshit. Actually it is probably more likely than not, but there is the chance that it could be valid, my sources have no comments (that are backed up with knowledge anyway) so ultimately I put it in your hands. If this is true, there are some pretty dang big spoilers, if it isn't... well then it's all BS. So take that in mind and read on, I'll call this spy the Cannibalistic Kook!
I just read your bit on George Romero and a possible addition to the "Dead" trillogy. I have some interesting info that may be a good addition to that story.
Several months ago, I attended the "Metro City Commicon," a convention that is held annually in Novi, Michigan. John Russo (co-writer of Night of the Living Dead), Bill Hinzman (cemetary zombie from Night), and Tom Savini (if you don't know...) were among the speakers this year.
John Russo was asked if there would be another Dead film in the future. He seemed to hesitate a bit with his reply, but finally came out with some interesting news. Apparently, he and Hinzman have written a script for an addition to the series called "Children Of The Dead," and were looking for investors to do it themselves when none other than their old buddy George Romero got ahold of it. Russo didn't go into details on Romero's involvment, he just said that he was "interested" and we may eventually see the project take shape with him as the director.
Russo wasn't hesitant to go into detail on the script... he gave us a fairly detailed plot explanation. What he said (as best I can remember it) follows...
"Children Of The Dead." The story begins as the "zombie squads" sweep across the country exterminating the last of the ghouls (as we saw in the end of Night). We follow a crew through Pittsburgh (of course). The squads come across one of the last remaining rescue shelters/hosiptals. Inside, they find the few remaining survivors that have managed to escape the plague of murders. Among them is a pregnant woman. As the squad tries to help with the sick and injured, a lone zombie manages to sneak by them and gain entrance to the facility. They mistake him for one of the injured, until he takes a massive bite from the arm of the pregnant woman. They exterminate the zombie, but it is too late for the woman.
The stress of the incident forces the woman into labor. The baby is born just before the woman dies of her injuries. The baby is turned over to the army who have to decide if it is safe to let it live. Meanwhile, similar incidents occur across the country. All the children are ordered to be turned over to the army. After thorough medical exams, the babbies are determined to be healthy. They decide the children can be allowed to live, but must be closely observed throughout their lives.
They set up a program to allow the children to be adopted by specially chosen parents who pass a rigorous screening process. The parents must keep detailed journals of incidents throughout the life of the child, and they must report to government facilities every month for medical evaluations. The children must be taken to special doctors when they are sick, and they must report to chosen school to be monitored throughout their lives.
For the first few years, everything seems to be fine. The children grow normally, and there are no medical problems. But, complications begin when the children reach puberty. Almost all of them begin to show symptoms of a rare disease (I don't remember what it was called, but he said it is a real disease that probably started the vampire stories... it causes the skin to turn pale white, and the gums to receed from the teeth, making them appear large. People with the disease do benifit from drinking blood because it gives them heavy doses of the nutrients that they are missing), and the government begins to panic.
They put the children in quarentine for more evaluation, but eventually decide that they will be okay and release them again to their parents. Just after this, a rash of murders occur in Pittsburgh. All of the victims have gaping bite wounds somewhere on their bodies, and most are missing some blood. The number of bodies grow, as the homeless population is wiped out. And before long, the bodies of the murder victims begin to rise again. The children are commiting these murders, and their victims become infected with the strange chemical or virus that is present in the children's body that was passed to them through their infected mother. The children are immune to this virus, but it has mutated and cause the vampire disease and given them the urge to kill. The world is now faced with a new plague of zombies.
He wasn't willing to give us anymore... but that's a pretty good chunk of the plot. It sounds like it could be a great addition to the trillogy, if handled correctly. And who better to handle it than Romero?
I have a feeling Tom Savini would not be a part of this film... he stated in his book "Grande Illusion" that it would take a lot of money to get him to do another Romero film because of things that occured on the set of Day. Apparently, alot of the blame for the movie falling behind schedule was put on Savini... and some of his effects didn't work the way they were planned (as should be expected from a movie with such dynamic setups), and he was given hell for that throughout production. He is also busy with his projects (which he would not explain in depth) such as "Vampirates" which he is supposed to direct and star in. His last project "Claustraphobia" fell through.
A zombie film without Tom Savini... it might not be the same.
