George Romero's 'Empire Of The Dead' Comics Spawn A TV Series

The Marvel Comics series Empire of the Dead, from George A. Romero and Alex Maleev, is about to become a TV series. But the show, isn't coming from Marvel's own TV development outfit. Rather, it is backed by Demarest, which is also behind a forthcoming TV adaptation of John le Carré's The Night Manager, and also produced the film version of le Carré's A Most Wanted Man and Kevin Smith's Tusk.

The 15-issue Empire of the Dead series, which brings Romero's zombies (some of whom are evolving) and human survivors into conflict with vampires, is described by Marvel like so:

ZOMBIE GODFATHER GEORGE ROMERO UNLEASHES HIS NEXT UNDEAD EPIC—AS AN ALL-NEW MARVEL COMIC! Welcome to New York City years after the undead plague has erupted—but just because Manhattan has been quarantined, don't think that everyone inside is safe! Not only do flesh-eaters roam within Manhattan, but there's another ancient predator about to take a bite out of the Big Apple! Plus: It's a terrorizing team-up in variant cover form when the Zombie Godfather unites with the Zombie King – Arthur Suydam!

Variety passes on word that the series will be written by Romero and Peter Grunwald, executive produced by Romero and Grunwald, and feature Sam Englebardt and William D. Johnson of Demarest as additional exec producers. The announcement of the project just came today at Cannes so we don't have a lot of info, but we imagine we'll learn more soon. And since a zombie TV series based on a comic book has proven to be a workable idea thanks to The Walking Dead, this one could develop quickly.