Zombies and race cars. Race cars and zombies. Raise your hands if you ever thought you’d see these two elements in the same movie, let alone be a major part of a movie. Well, imagine no more because it’s actually happening. George Romero, the same man who introduced the world to cult classics like Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead, is now preparing his latest project called, Road of the Dead.

Before you start snickering, know the movie’s premise is the kind of stuff that can only be found in the mind of the man largely credited with popularizing the zombie phenomena. Think zombies mindlessly walking about and eating anything they can get their hands on is a little too much for your taste? Consider then the sight of seeing zombies as “who race cars for entertainment purposes.” Put those elements together, maybe throw in some elements from NASCAR, and sprinkle some inspiration from Ben-Hur, and you have the essence of Road of the Dead. There’s no timetable yet for a release, but according to Indiewire, the movie will be headed to the Fantasia International Film Festival where it will be screened. Romero serves as the lead writer of the movie and is joined by Matt Birman, who is attached to direct the film.

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George Romero at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. Photo by Josh Jensen

Admit it, you’re a little tantalized by the thought of watching zombies behind the wheel of a race car. I know I am. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them in this kind of setting before, let alone competing against one another in what Matt Birman describes as “Road Warrior meets Rollerball at a NASCAR race” environment. Throw in elements of a gladiator-style spectacle with wealthy humans as spectators and you have the makings of a rollicking adventure full of blood, carnage, and some old-fashioned racing mayhem.

The way it’s been described, it’s not out of the stretch of Romero’s imagination to have these zombies try to take each other out during the race and then end up getting out of their cars and then destroying everything they can get their hands on. I’m very intrigued by the premise and that’s putting it lightly. It's a safe bet Romero's film will be anything but a tutti-fruity zombie movie that fails miserably in capturing the real appeal of zombies. Yes, Warm Bodies. I’m talking about you.

It’s hard to believe that this project hasn’t gotten off the ground sooner, too, since the project itself has been in the oven for about 10 years now. Hopefully, it won’t take that long for the movie to be made. Zombies have been an important part of pop culture in the last decade and there’s no better time to get this project off the ground than now. Adding that car racing element to the proceedings is another interesting layer that could help get this movie to where it needs to go.

I’m excited to see it, if only because the sight of zombies in a NASCAR-style race is something I’ve always dreamt of seeing in some form or fashion. Let’s hope then that we can finally see how that scenario unfolds on the big screen.