Hopper, Leguizamo depart for 'Land of the Dead'

Posted Friday, September 24, 2004 at 11:07 AM Central

by John Couture

George A. Romero is returning to his roots with a new zombie movie and he's got an abundance of Hollywood talent clawing their way to work with the King of all zombies. Dennis Hopper, Simon Baker, John Leguizamo and Asia Argento are already on board for The Land of the Dead and more are “dying” to join them.

“A lot of people revere George, and fellow directors and actors are calling to see if they can be zombies. I think it's a testament to George and the genre that he created,” quipped producer Mark Canton. Romero almost single-handedly created the zombie genre with his films Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead.

The success of this year’s re-make Dawn of the Dead sparked interest in Romero to resurrect his series. He hopes that The Land of the Dead will complement his earlier films and lead to a new series of zombie thrillers.