An Early Idea For Day Of The Dead Took The Horror To The White House

The late, great George A. Romero didn't invent the zombie movie, but his "Dead" saga certainly helped bring it to prominence. Things began with Romero's now-classic "Night of the Living Dead," a low-budget shocker that became a monster hit when it arrived in 1968. All told, Romero would direct six "Dead" films — "Night of the Living Dead" (1968), "Dawn of the Dead" (1978), "Day of the Dead" (1985), "Land of the Dead" (2005) "Diary of the Dead" (2007), and "Survival of the Dead" (2009). While the later films have their fans, most folks agree that the original trilogy — "Night," "Dawn," and "Day" — are the best of the bunch, with "Dawn" often being hailed as the masterpiece of the series.

But it's important to remember that Romero didn't exactly map this series out from the jump. He wasn't initially planning on a whole franchise when he sat down to make "Night of the Living Dead." Indeed, after he followed up "Night" with "Dawn," he wasn't entirely sure where to go next. When Romero first screened footage of the then-unreleased "Dawn of the Dead" for Pittsburgh Post-Gazette film critic George Anderson, the subject of a third film in the series came up, and Romero mentioned a very different idea than what "Day of the Dead" ended up becoming.

While speaking with George Anderson about a potential third movie, Romero said: "The zombies are a little more sympathetic. We see them organizing slightly now and if there's ever a third film that's what it will be about." 

He then added a tantalizing detail while mentioning legendary horror filmmaker Dario Argento: 

"Dario Argento, who we're co-producing this film with, an Italian director, said that the third one has to be 'Zombies in the White House'. And maybe that's what it will be, I don't know."

Of course, anyone who has seen "Day of the Dead" can tell you that's not what the sequel is about — most of the movie is set in an underground bunker. Still, it's fun to imagine the political satire Romero could've created with a White House-set zombie movie. A year after his interview with Anderson, Romero playfully teased a third movie again (according to the book "The Making of George A. Romero's Day of the Dead" By Lee Karr). "Everyone wants to do the third part of the Living Dead Trilogy, but I don't want to do that right now," Romero said. "All I have is a sketch for it. I'm threatening to do a 'Zombies at Home', a kind of 'My Three Sons', non-violent and totally boring." 

Needless to say, that's not what happened, either.