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(sparkling music)

(heavy rain falling)

(thunder cracks loudly)
(thunder rumbling)

(heavy rain falling)

(gentle music)

- [Narrator] A bizarre
incident had occurred

near the end of
the 20th century.

A German production company

called Constantin Film
had purchased the rights

to a bestselling video
game created by Capcom

with legendary director
George A. Romero

hired to write and direct.

One year later, he was
fired from the production.

The case was apparently closed

with the release of a
feature film in 2002

directed by Paul W.S. Anderson,

but questions regarding
Romero's unrealized film

and his removal were
far from answered.

(eerie music)

(crows cawing distantly)

(eerie music)

(crows cawing)
(footsteps on dead leaves)

(eerie music)

(footsteps on dead leaves)
(eerie music)

(deep growling)

(eerie music)

(deep growling)

(eerie music)
(footsteps on dead leaves)

(dog-like snarling)
(heavy panting)

(footsteps on dead leaves)
(crickets chirping)

(dog-like snarling)
(heavy panting)

(eerie music)

(wind howling)
(eerie music)

(dog-like snarling)

(footsteps approaching)

(key clicks in door)

(dog-like snarling)

(eerie music)

(eerie music)
(creaky footsteps)

In 1968, Image Ten unleashed

a visceral experience
upon the world

that shocked
audiences everywhere.

(woman screaming)

- [Movie Narrator] "Night
of the Living Dead."

The dead, who live
on living flesh.

The dead, whose haunted
souls hunt the living.

The living, whose
bodies are the only food

for these ungodly creatures.

- George Andrew Romero was
born in February of 1940

in Bronx in New York.

His father was a
graphic designer

and he used to make
posters for films

and for Broadway shows,
banners and the like like that,

so when George was growing up,

he was really in a household
that kind of celebrated film.

- He was one that
took that love of film

and actually acted on it.

He didn't say, "I just wanna
grow up and be a filmmaker."

He started making his
films at an early age,

and the famous story of
throwing the flaming dummy

off the building and getting
arrested at a young age.

- George came to Pittsburgh

to attend what was then
called Carnegie Tech.

It's now Carnegie
Mellon University,

and he came here to
be an art student.

Came, started taking
his art classes,

and eventually kind
of got rolled in

with some folks in
the drama department,

started doing theater,

and eventually they
kind of got swept up in

sort of emerging television.

(playful music)

Eventually they knew
that sort of this crew

with Latent Image, which
was sort of the company

that they had put together.

So you have George and Russ
Streiner and Jack Russo

and a couple of the Ricci folks

kind of all together
working to figure out

how they can kind of
navigate this space.

And eventually the idea
came to make a horror film,

that it'd be easier to get
funding for, it'd be cheap,

they didn't need
a lot of skills,

they kind of pull this off.

And they had a script that
was adapted by Jack Russo.

He had written this
"Night of Anubis."

It was the original title,

but it was this general
story that we know as

"Night of the Living Dead."

(dramatic music)
(glass shattering)

(woman screaming in fear)

- There was an aspect of
it that was very surreal

and sort of dreamlike.

I remember when the character
Ben is clubbing the zombies,

and the way he's hitting them

and the way the sound effects
are kind of off sync a bit,

and it's just kind of strange.

It feels like
you're watching it,

you're just slipping into
some kind of nightmare.

- They really learned how
to make a film together

sort of organically.

I think fans know that George
did not go film school,

neither did any of the
other folks in Latent Image.

They took their video
production skills

that they had learned from
television and applied it,

but they learned it sort
of in a different way

and on their own.

- Some of the ways
the characters speak
are a little funny.

"They're coming to
get you, Barbara."

It's kind of funny,
but then it like,

it gives you a sucker punch
and scares the shit outta you.

- And it's like, Roger
Ebert's original review

of "Night of the Living Dead,"

he said, "These kids were
dropped off in a matinee

thinking they're gonna see some
spooky Vincent Price movie,"

and of course they're
eating livers and stuff

and these kids were in shock!

- There's a pretty safe scene

where they're shouldn't
be anything of menace.

But then all of a sudden this
zombie comes out for no reason

and starts killing one of the
characters who you've just met

and you're like, "Wow.
What's going on now?"

I wound up going
to Scream Theater

and watching "Night
of the Living Dead,"

and you know, the dead are
alive to eat the living!

The weird thing is
they made references

to all these other places

that my family would camp in
when we'd go to Pittsburgh!

So it was utterly terrifying!

- I love that. I can't tell
if "Night of the Living Dead"

is an old or a modern film.

It just kind of splits
two eras down the middle.

- I'm 14 years old

and they're having a
convention in Monroeville,

and I see George Romero,

director of "Night of the
Living Dead" is gonna be there.

And I was like, "All right, I
wanna go meet this psychopath

that would make a movie

that would give somebody
nightmares like this."

Met George, got an
autograph from George,

realized George was one of the
nicest people on the planet.

And then me, this 14-year-old,
cornered George Romero,

literally cornered
him in the hotel

and was asking him question
after question after question.

And finally he just writes
on a piece of paper,

"247 Fort Pitt
Boulevard," the address,

and goes "Here, write me."

Then it was just,
we became pen pals

and I still have those letters.

- I just remember the immediacy

of the sequences
with the zombies

and how it felt
like you were under

a constant sense of
terror and foreboding.

- There were no R-rated movies

before "Night of
the Living Dead,"

and "Night of the Living Dead,"
of course, has no rating.

- [Narrator speaking]

- That really made a big impact

because at the time it
was released, of course,

on the news, you're seeing
worse stuff in that every day,

people being burned
with flame throwers

and you all the
Vietnam with the napalm

and the skin falling
off and shit.

And so suddenly the horror
movies were not that horrific

because what you saw on the news

was a lot more frightening.

(zombie groaning)

(intense dramatic music)
(loud thud)

(gunshot firing)

(zombies groaning)
(woman screaming)

(intense music)

(woman's screams echoing)

- I think George
really took things

to the next level on that.

One of the most memorable scenes

is when the truck is burning

and there's flames
flying everywhere

and somebody's taking a
piece of flesh and gnawing.

We hadn't seen anything
like that on camera.

- [Narrator] After "Night
of the Living Dead,"

the definition of
zombie would change.

No longer inspired by
misconstrued Haitian folklore,

the zombie would now be your
neighbors, your friends,

your family, the
reanimated corpses

of the recently
dead, seeking flesh.

- Yeah, they're dead.
They're all messed up.

- [Narrator] And
while slow moving,

could only be stopped
by destroying the brain,

- [Interviewee] Beat
'em or burn 'em.

- Of course, it famously set
the rules for zombie film.

How zombies work, how
the brain is the zombie,

you shoot the
brain, you kill it.

And that's been the
common trope ever since.

- They didn't try to go
back to New York City,

they didn't try to go to LA,
they didn't go to Chicago,

they did it here in Pittsburgh.

The fact that we still
have a film industry here

is because of the work they did.

- This is probably
the most inspiring

independent film of all time.

- [Narrator] For Romero,
attempts to branch out

into other genres were met
with less enthusiastic results.

So in 1973, he returned to
horror with "The Crazies"

about a chemical weapon
unleashed upon the population

of Evan City, Pennsylvania,

turning them into
violent psychopaths.

And "Martin."

- My name is Martin.

I'm 84 years

- The 1977 Classic
about a serial killer

that believed he was a vampire.

But it was his next film
that cemented George Romero

in the minds of
audiences worldwide.

- [Movie Narrator]
"Dawn of the Dead."

- Meet me on the
roof at nine o'clock.

We're getting out.
- But I don't believe it.

- We've gotta get
out in the chopper.

- [Narrator] The film
followed four survivors

of the zombie apocalypse

that barricade themselves
within a shopping mall

as the world around
them falls apart.

- [Movie Narrator] "Night of
the Living Dead" has ended.

(person screaming)

"Dawn of the Dead" is here.

- [Narrator] Filmed
at the Monroeville
Mall near Pittsburgh,

- [Narrator] Filmed
at the Monroeville
Mall near Pittsburgh,

the 1978 film became
an instant hit

and the mall itself
became a monument

for Romero fans to visit
in the decades to follow.

- The movie opened up
and they knew right away

that they were sitting
on a big hit film.

"Dawn of the Dead" really
turned Romero's career around

and it was a massive hit.

It was released unrated

because they were afraid they
were gonna get an X-rating

because of the violence in it.

- In 1977, when Tom Savini
asked me to do a role

in "Dawn of the Dead," we did
the makeup, head castings,

and when I got onto
the set at the little

Harold Brown Airport,
the Monroeville Airport,

that's when I first got
to see and meet George.

And he was in the
middle of directing,

but I could tell just
by the way he moved,

and sometimes you go by
your first impression,

and that first impression
I think was pretty solid

in terms of he was
very gregarious, he
was very friendly,

he was very open and receptive,
and at the same time,

he knew exactly what
he wanted to do.

If somebody had a
slightly better idea,

well, let's hear it, maybe
we can bring that in.

- [Narrator speaking]

- Tom was behind the boxes
ready to pump the blood

as somebody was ready to yank

the top piece of my head off.

The apparatus that is,
not my actual head.

And that timing
was pretty precise.

We did everything in one take.

George was smiling,
he looked at it.

He said, "This was just great."

- I discovered George Romero
through my brother Taso,

who was going to Carnegie Mellon
University with Tom Savini,

who was just at
the time becoming

sort of known as the
special effects guy

because he had done a film
of George called "Martin,"

and then Taso worked with
him on "Dawn of the Dead."

They both did a lot of
stunts and acrobatics

and stage combat at CMU.

And so they became the
stuntmen on "Dawn of the Dead"

in addition to Tom doing
all the makeup effects.

And so Taso plays several
zombies and also gets killed,

but as a kid, this is
really like impressive shit!

Like, you know, your
brother's in a movie!

He's on the magic side of
the screen now, you know?

I grew up as steeped in that,

so that was my Holy Trinity
was Taso, Tom, and George.

- I got to meet George again
at a place in Pittsburgh

called the Pittsburgh
Mattress Factory.

They showed "Night."

Afterwards, there was
questions, and George just...

George was George.

He would come through
the front door.

There was no special treatments,

there was no anything like that.

And I'm just like...

I can't remember.

My mother's standing
behind me and she goes,

"He makes movies too."

She just told George
Romero that I make movies.

And so with just
stupidity, I went, "Oh!"

And smashed my face into
this brick wall by accident.

And after he checked on me, he
goes, "What I want you to do

is write down all
your questions, come
down to the office,

and spend an afternoon with me."

I had my list of questions.

We sat down in Georgia
Romero's office

and spent the afternoon, and
he answered all my questions.

And when it was done, he
goes, "I'm making this movie

about these knights
that ride motorcycles.

I would love you for you
to be my apprentice."

Yes! Absolutely!

And so did he inspire me?

Oh, hell yes, he inspired me.

- [Narrator] Romero
returned again for a third,

and at that time, final entry
in this "Living Dead" series

with the 1985 film
"Day of the Dead."

- On my 21st birthday, I
got into the different scene

and we ended up killing Rhodes.

I remember George
looked at me and I go,

"It's my 21st birthday."

And he's like,
"Why are you here?"

And I'm like, "Where
else would I wanna be?

This is the greatest
birthday ever!"

Because I'd hung out with
Tom Savini and all them,

they trusted me with some stuff

so they put a blood
pump on my back,

had it running down my arm,
and I had Joe Pilato's legs.

And so I pumped blood
while we were dragging it

and then the intestines
that were unrefrigerated

because someone had
pulled out a plug.

- Choke on 'em!

Choke on 'em!

- They were just, the smell
is exactly what everyone says.

I mean, it was awful.

- Hold it! Don't shoot!

- You're crazy!

- [Narrator] Romero's
films frequently placed

the zombie concept
into a larger context

within the narrative.

"Night of The Living
Dead" was a story

about a group of strangers
surviving the night

in a farmhouse, assaulted
by ravenous ghouls.

But beneath the surface
boiled social commentary

on the Civil Rights movement

and the treatment of African
Americans in American society.

- You can be the boss down
there, I'm boss up here.

- You bastards!

- Having this strong
Black character

who then is just killed by the
vigilante hunters at the end.

- All right, Vince,
hit him in the head,

right between the eyes.

(loud gunshot)
(sudden thud)

- [Ben] It was part of that
zeitgeist to understand.

- Good shot.

Okay, he's dead.
Let's go get him.

That's another one for the fire.

- There's this sort
of racial commentary

that was going through

in reflection of the
turmoil of the '60s.

- [Narrator] "Dawn of the Dead"
focused on over consumerism,

greed, and America's
fascination with materialism.

- We're in, now the hell
are we gonna get back?

- Who the hell cares!

Let's go shopping first!

(both laughing)

- [Narrator] Later films
would challenge sexism.

- Let him go, goddamn it!

Or I'll cut you in half.

- [Narrator] Class
warfare, the War On Terror.

- We don't negotiate
with terrorists.

- [Narrator] Tribalism.

- [Character Voiceover] All we
were looking for was a place

where there was no them.

(loud gunshot)
(glass shatters)

- [Narrator] And
detached voyeurism

while witnessing
acts of violence.

- We become immune
too. Inoculated.

- [Narrator] These core concepts
made George Romero's films

feel raw, relatable, and real,

that we could be
these characters

in that very same predicament.

- I think George touched on

a lot of universal
themes with his movies,

and I think that's
why so many people

were able to relate to them.

Because it was the every man.

I mean, you would
see the military

and you would see other people

that we weren't used to
seeing in our everyday lives,

but he really focused
on real people

caught in real situations.

- I think that is his
biggest social critique,

was that he just didn't
have a lot of faith

that humans could put
aside their differences

and work together when they
really, really needed to.

- [Narrator] All zombie media

after "Night of the Living Dead"

owed a debt of gratitude
toward the work

of Image Ten and George Romero.

And without George Romero,
there would not be...

- [Game Narrator]
"Resident Evil."

- [Narrator] In 1996,
Japanese game developer Capcom

unleashed a new horror
experience on the world.

(glass shattering)
(dog snarling)

"Biohazard."

One week later, the game
released in the United States

as "Resident Evil,"
a bestselling title

for the Sony PlayStation

that launched Capcom to
new levels of success.

For over 25 years,
"Resident Evil"

has been a sales juggernaut

with over 140 million total
games sold across the franchise.

Part of that success came
from an immersive experience

where players felt like
protagonists in a horror film.

Not surprisingly,
its inspirations were
deeply influenced

by horror cinema.

In 1993, a senior Producer
at Capcom, Tokuro Fujiwara,

desired to remake a video game

he directed four years earlier

for the Nintendo
Famicom, "Sweet Home."

[Narrator speaking]

(characters speaking Japanese)

Based on the 1989 Japanese
horror film of the same name,

Fujiwara crafted a
survival role playing game

with the player controlling

the five characters
from the movie,

each with their own
unique abilities.

The player was tasked with
exploring the spooky manor

to solve various puzzles,
all while trying to survive

against a menagerie
of monsters and traps

that could permanently
kill the characters

for the remainder of the game.

Fujiwara believed a new game

based on the gameplay
of "Sweet Home,"

but utilizing new hardware
could entice an audience.

"Biohazard" was intended to
be a remake of "Sweet Home,"

but because "Sweet
Home" was based on

a Japanese movie property,
Capcom did not have the ability

to use that license
for their new game,

so they decided to go with
something original instead.

And in terms of the development
of the original "Biohazard,"

it started sometime around 1993

when it became increasingly
clear that 3D video games

would become a technical
and a creative possibility.

The original creator of the
"Sweet Home" video game,

Tokuro Fujiwara, was a Producer
at Capcom at that point.

So at Capcom, Producers often
have the greatest ability

to get projects green lit.

Even after "Sweet Home,"

even though they were able
to create it and release it,

it didn't do very
well for Capcom

and it was never even
released outside of Japan,

which was another reason
why it didn't really garner

the sales numbers
or the awareness

that Fujiwara was hoping for.

But with the next
game, "Biohazard,"

they were trying to
aim for something

a little more worldwide
in its approach.

They wanted it to be accessible

and something that
would showcase

this new upcoming
era of 3D gaming.

- [Narrator] He found a young
employee named Shinji Mikami,

whose recent games "Goof
Troop" and "Aladdin"

were well received, and asked
him to lead development.

[Narrator speaking]

(Kenichi speaking Japanese)

- I think the most iconic
thing about "Resident Evil"

is pressing start and you
hear that, "Resident Evil".

It just puts you in the game.

And walking into that mansion
and just the sound design

and the creepiness factor,
going and exploring each room.

And the great thing about
the old PlayStations

is when you had to
walk up to the door

and you go through it,

you didn't know what was
gonna be on the other side!

It would sometimes
be a surprise,

and that's what I
loved about the game.

- It was the first time I
experienced that level of gore

in video games, and
it definitely helped
ramp up the horror.

- [Movie Narrator] Bizarre
murder cases have recently

occurred in Raccoon City.

There are outlandish
reports of families

being attacked by a
group of about 10 people.

Victims were apparently eaten.

- [Narrator] This
cinematic inspiration

book ended the gaming experience

through live action sequences

filmed to look like
they were pulled

straight from a horror film.

- It was quite a long time ago,

but I do have a fairly
strong recollection

of the day where we were
shooting the outdoor scenes.

It was kind of outside
of the center of Tokyo

near the Tama River.

It was a hot night, there
was lots of mosquitoes

and they were using
smoke machines.

There were some
really cool props

of the dogs and the hand
that's holding the gun.

And I recall running
around in the grass,

they would then just give
us some direction, like,

"Look this way. Shoot your gun."

There wasn't a rehearsal,
it was all just kind of done

by the seat of our pants.

But it was a lot of
fun, the crew were fun

and I think we all just,

we didn't really know
what we were getting into

until we got there
and we got into it.

- No! Don't go!

- [Narrator] It was almost
like "Resident Evil"

was a video game based
on a horror film,

albeit one that
didn't actually exist.

The gameplay consisted
of action sequences

with emphasis on
exploration, puzzle solving,

and resource management,

all while combating
the horrific enemies

within its environment.

The player chose
between two characters;

Chris Redfield or
Jill Valentine,

members of an elite
police task force,

The Special Tactics and
Rescue Service, or S.T.A.R.S,

as they investigated
gruesome murders

in the mountains
outside Raccoon City.

(Kenichi speaking Japanese)

Trapped in a sinister mansion
infested with zombies,

giant spiders, and other
nightmarish creatures,

the two uncovered that
the mansion harbored

an underground laboratory
with illegal viral experiments

conducted by the
pharmaceutical company

Umbrella Incorporated.

(Kenichi speaking Japanese)

In the end, Chris and Jill
discovered that their leader

Captain Wesker to be a traitor,

battled the ultimate
weapon Tyrant,

and narrowly escaped before
the mansion exploded.

- The game that I was in

was pretty cutting
edge for its time.

I think it was really neat

that they had the live
action cut scenes in it.

It wasn't just a
shoot 'em up game,

you had to solve puzzles.

It kind of ushered in a
whole new kind of video game.

- It's a weapon.

It's really powerful, especially
against living things.

Better take it with you.

- In 2007, I would meet Shinji
Mikami for the first time

and he would tell me that the
voice acting was done in Japan

and recorded
intentionally in a way

such that Japanese
people could understand,

even this level
of simple English.

- This house is dangerous,
there are terrible demons.

Ouch!

- The idea was to make it
palatable for Japanese people

rather than
international audiences,

which I thought
was a fascinating

and ultimately an
understandable decision.

- I see. Well, it's
not your fault.

This place is crazy!

- All of us, I think we
just didn't really know.

All we knew is that
it was a video game,

something that we
didn't know much about.

I didn't even know until
20-some years later

that I was part of
"Resident Evil,"

because they called
it "Biohazard."

- [Narrator] "Resident Evil"
sold over 2.7 million copies

worldwide after it was
released on March 22nd, 1996.

An expanded version of the game,

"Resident Evil:
The Director's Cut"

sold an additional
2 million copies.

- It was just so
different for games

that I played at the time

that it was the most immersive
way to experience horror.

It was a brand new way
to experience horror
other than film.

- It was a an
immersive experience

that I was not used
to with video games.

And the thing that I noticed
the most about "Resident Evil"

is just how fucking
creepy they were.

The sound effects and
the fact you couldn't see

all the way down the halls,
and "What the hell was that?"

Your mind would start
playing tricks on you.

(Kenichi speaking Japanese)

- Most people at
Capcom at the time

thought that the
company was done for,

heading into the second
half of the '90s.

And when "Biohazard" came out

and surpassed anybody's
sales expectations,

I think that that
revitalized Capcom's business

and gave them another hit to
kind of move forward with.

According to Yoshiki Okamoto,

one of of Capcom's
other Producers,

that was one of the first
million selling titles

on the original PlayStation.

- [Narrator] "Resident Evil"
was an explosive sleeper hit

and Capcom now had
one clear goal:

Create a franchise.

- That's a testament
to Shinji Mikami

and all the people at
Capcom that developed it.

- [Narrator] While a
sequel entered development,

Capcom sought interest in
their newest hit video game

to be brought to the big screen.

- They got started on the sequel
very quickly in early 1996,

but once the
original "Biohazard"

was obviously going to
be a a great success,

they assembled the team
to go make the next one.

(clock ticking)
(loud whirring)

(heavy breathing)

(pen sliding over paper)
(heavy breathing)

(pen snaps)

- [Narrator] In January,
1997, Variety reported

a German film production
company, Constantin Film,

purchased the film
rights to "Resident Evil"

with Alan B. McElroy,
at that time known for

"Halloween 4: The Return
of Michael Myers,"

hired to write the screenplay.

[Narrator speaking]

By the mid '90s,

Constantin Film was known
in the United States

primarily for producing "The
NeverEnding Story" in 1984,

and for an unreleased adaptation

of the "Fantastic Four" in 1993.

Made for $2 million,
"Fantastic Four" was produced

in conjunction with Roger
Corman's New World Pictures.

Constantin Film,
having had the rights

to the property
for several years,

were on the verge
of having the rights

revert back to Marvel Comics

if a film wasn't put
into production by
December 31st, 1992.

Principal photography commenced

three days before the deadline.

Recounted by the film's actors
and even Stan Lee himself,

the film was never
intended for release.

Critics point to the film

as an embarrassing
example of greed,

but the truth was
that Constantin Films

stood to lose on their
initial investment,

an investment that later paid
off when 20th Century Fox

produced their own
"Fantastic Four" film

and paid Constantin
as part of the deal.

Alan McElroy delivered his
first draft in May, 1997.

The script changed major
elements of the game.

The characters were no
longer an elite police unit.

Instead, a ragtag group
of military veterans

each with personal problems

exploited by Albert
Wesker to recruit them.

Absent was the iconic
mansion of the game.

Instead, the action took place

within a top secret laboratory
built within a mountainside.

As McElroy submitted
his first draft,

Capcom confirmed
their partnership

with Constantin Film
through interviews

during the Electronic
Entertainment Expo event.

Capcom showcased
upcoming titles,

including the highly
anticipated "Resident Evil 2."

The movie was expected
to film shortly

with a release near
the end of 1998.

But for Capcom, a sequel
to "Resident Evil"

that surpassed the original

was the primary focus
for the company.

Capcom earned
nearly $200 million

in sales from the original,

and the new director,
Hideki Kamiya,

felt intense pressure
for the sequel

to live up to its predecessor.

[Narrator speaking]

The original build
was scrapped entirely

after the team couldn't
match the quality expected

not only by Capcom Executives,

but also their own expectations.

Now rebuilt from the ground up

with a script written
by Noboru Sugimura,

"Resident Evil 2" was
delayed to January, 1998.

With increased hype
surrounding the game,

Capcom planned and
ambitious marketing campaign

unheard of for a video
game at that time

and committed $1.5 million
on a live action commercial

to advertise the
upcoming sequel.

There was only one man
they had in mind to direct.

- That was kind of a big deal
'cause it was the first time

George had opened
a lens on anything,

especially something
involving zombies for years.

And so that was big news. It
made the cover of "Fangoria."

- We do have some
materials that relate

directly to the commercial
for "Biohazard 2,"

as it was known in Japan,

what he was hired to
direct commercial for,

"Resident Evil 2" in
the United States.

And it's some of the
storyboards for this commercial,

some of the character designs,

and some of the kind of artwork

that would've been
used to inspire this.

A lot of information
for him really

about who the characters are,

what the storyline of this was

so that he could
kind of effectively
make this commercial.

He himself was not a gamer

so he was not familiar
with these games,

so some of this was to give
him this background info.

- [Narrator] Shot
over several nights

in downtown Los Angeles at
the Lincoln Heights Jail,

an empty and often
used filming location

for movies, TV,
and music videos,

the building was
dressed to resemble

the Raccoon Police Department,

a location from the
upcoming "Resident Evil 2."

- I wound up as a zombie in
a George Romero commercial.

I'm still marveling about that.

I mean, as a horror nerd,

that's one of the great
moments of your life.

I was sent in for a commercial

and the request was there'd
be heavy prosthetics makeup.

- [Narrator] Not only
was legendary director,

George A. Romero, directing,

but the production was
filled with top level talent

both in front and
behind the camera.

- I said, "Geez, I feel like
I'm in a George Romero movie."

And the makeup
artist says to me,

"Didn't you see George
standing out there?"

The amazing thing
is the production,

the call sheet listed the
director as I. Kambara,

and that was a Japanese
artist, Tai Kambara,

and Tai Kambara had
just passed away.

And George Romero had
always skirted the unions.

He always stayed away from
the DGA and everything.

So what they did is George
Romero had a pseudonym

to direct this commercial.

We're at Lincoln Heights Jail.

I remember when I pulled
up to Lincoln Heights,

it said Raccoon City
Police Department

and there was a zombie
leaning on the sign

smoking a cigarette, which
was kind of the weird

introduction to the world.

They didn't call
it "Resident Evil,"

they called it by
the Japanese title,

which was "Project Biohazard 2."

When Romero came towards us,

Romero was in flip flops,
wearing an open collar shirt

and baggy shorts.

He was, he was not
dressed for October,

the September/October
California weather.

He was dressed like he was
going to the beach in June

and I remember his
assistant was fretting,

"George, can I get you a coat?"

And he goes, "Nah, I'm
good! I love it, I love it."

He goes, "If feels like-"

I think he said, "It feels
like August in Pittsburgh."

He just looked so comfortable.

He pointed out to several people
he had his lucky scarf on.

- [Narrator] Brad Renfro
played Leon Kennedy,

one of two protagonists
in "Resident Evil 2."

Brad had a massive following
in Japan with teenagers,

but his restrictive agreement
barred the commercial

from being played outside Japan.

Adrienne Frantz played
Claire Redfield,

sister of the original
games, Chris Redfield,

and the other
protagonist for the game.

Peter Deming was the
director of photography,

a cinematographer
on iconic films,

"Evil Dead II" for Sam Raimi,

"Lost Highway" for David Lynch.

And "Scream 2" for Wes Craven.

The makeup effects
were accomplished

by veteran special effects
artist, Screaming Mad George,

with prior work on films, "A
Nightmare on Elm Street 3,"

"Predator," and "Bride
of the Re-Animator."

- It was incredibly
fulfilling to work

with a professional like
Screaming Mad George,

and he was such a great artist,

And just to see the day
to day work progression

and the way it developed

and to see how people
brainstormed ideas,

I could tell he really wanted
to give it a different take

on the traditional zombie movie.

So as you can see down here,

there's a lot of the
original prosthetics.

And then this is
a shoulder piece

that was for an
exposed shoulder.

So a nice meaty looking piece.

It would be right here and
then it would be revealed

up from underneath clothes,

maybe the shoulder
would be torn away.

George really wanted to take
it to a different level,

especially since George Romero,
I understood at the time,

was talking to
him about possibly

having him work on the movie.

- [Narrator] The heavy
levels of blood and gore

that Screaming Mad
George was known for

were explicitly prohibited for
the expected release format.

Even still, the zombies had
their own unique appearance

despite the restrictions.

Dried blood, torn
clothing and patchy skin

were still visually impressive,

invoking the work of Tom Savini

and Greg Nicotero's work
on "Day of the Dead."

- I'm sitting in
the makeup chair

and they couldn't show blood.

They were using black
as a dried blood.

And I said, "Hey, this
is a zombie thing.

Why don't we have blood?"

The Japanese company
that was doing it

was a little leery about blood.

They didn't want to emphasize
red blood in the commercial,

so everything was fairly dark.

It was more like we've
been in the grave a while.

That's why the blood
would pool in our fingers

and our fingers are black.

- [Narrator] The scale of the
commercial led the production

to film a "Making Of" feature.

Japanese press were
brought to the LA set

to interview the cast and crew.

Perhaps due to Brad Renfro's
contract restrictions,

non-Japanese journalists
were prohibited from the set

except for a sole Canadian-born
journalist working in Japan.

Norman England was
granted complete access
to the production

and Romero was more than pleased

to share his excitement
with the journalist

about working on a project

within the genre he
had helped create.

- Capcom flew me
over to Hollywood

to be involved with this shoot,

and it was really
fantastic experience for me

because I was not a part of
the film world at the time.

I was very fascinated
by the film world.

I was there for
all their meetings.

We go over to Screaming Mad
George, big makeup artist.

He worked on Carpenter
movies, whatever,

so many Brian Yuzna films.

They made two spots.

They made a 15 second
spot and a 30 second spot

I was told was a million
and a half dollars.

And I asked George
that on the set,

I said, "Tell me
about this budget."

And he goes, "Well, it's
the most money I've ever had

on a second per second basis."

- Every makeup artist in
town came by to kiss the ring

'cause George Romero was there.

So it was a who's
who of Hollywood

special effects
and makeup artist.

Matt Rose, who did "Hellboy"

brought 30 "Dawn of the Dead"
from every different country

posters for George
Romero to sign.

The KNB guys were
there to see George.

As someone who knows every
one of these makeup artists,

it was just really exciting
to watch them come one by one

to pay tribute to the king.

- We were done with
the commercial.

George got his reel from Japan.

He screened it for
quite a few employees

on different occasions,

and at one time he brought
out the commercial reel

and we watched the short cut.

There was a 15 second,
there was like a 30 second,

and there was this two
minute long trailer.

And then he said to us all,

"Would you like to see
the long version of it?"

And we were like, "Oh wow,
there's a longer version

than the two minutes?"

And he was like,
"Sure, watch this."

And we watched this
basically a short film

directed by George Romero
of "Resident Evil,"

and I really believe
that was George Romero's

and Screaming Mad
George's calling card

to show that they could
do the feature film.

- [Narrator] The
"Biohazard 2" commercial

released in Japanese
theaters and on television

with the "Making of
Biohazard 2" commercial

available to rent on
VHS in Japan as well

all ahead of the game's
release in January, 1998.

(helicopter whirring overhead)

(helicopter whirring overhead)

- You could tell
he had misgivings

about doing a zombie
project for someone else.

I heard him say once
at least to the DP

and two or three times just
observing to himself out loud,

he goes, when he was
directing the zombies,

he goes, "I really feel like
I'm ripping myself off here."

And everybody on the
crew kept saying,

"George is gonna direct
the movie version."

And I remember three or four
hours into it I thought,

"No, he's not."

You could see he was
starting to have misgivings.

He would set up a shot and go,

"Boy, this really
feels familiar to me."

- [Narrator] As part of its
North American campaign.

Capcom USA added a special
contest for American fans;

Capcom USA added a special
contest for American fans;

a chance to win an appearance
in the upcoming film.

- In my opinion, it
absolutely encapsulated

what "Resident Evil"
was at the time,

and it just made me
want a live action

"Resident Evil" movie so bad.

- [Narrator] While
considered a gamble,

Capcom's marketing campaign
proved highly successful.

"Resident Evil 2" released
to record breaking sales,

selling almost 400,000 copies

and earning more than $19
million within 72 hours.

The game had broken the record

held by previous best
selling video games,

"Final Fantasy VII"
and "Super Mario 64,"

and would go on to sell over
6 million copies worldwide.

- "Biohazard 2"
right out of the gate

outsold the original game,

which was a tremendous
feat at the time.

In Japan, it sold over a million
copies in its initial week,

which at that time I
believe only two franchises

in Japanese gaming had ever
done those kinds of numbers

right outta the gate,

and they were "Final
Fantasy" and "Dragon Quest."

- [Narrator] The "Resident
Evil" franchise was born.

And with hype surrounding
the series at a fever pitch,

getting the film into
production was now the priority,

and Capcom had their hopes
in the Godfather of the Dead

to make that a reality.

When Alan McElroy was
hired to adapt the game,

"Resident Evil" was
only nine months old.

Through the writing process,
a sequel had been released

and rumors circulated
that Capcom now had

multiple sequels in development.

This didn't bode well
for the executives

at Constantin Film,

who quickly soured on
McElroy's screenplay.

Capcom had the answer:

Hire George Romero.

Word of Romero's commercial
leaked across the early internet

and rumors persisted he was
hired to direct the film.

"Fangoria" reached out to
George Romero for clarification,

but he would only comment
that he was interested.

The comment ignited the
fans and rumors continued.

Constantin Film announced
that Bernd Eichinger

would serve as
Producer on the film.

Eichinger, a renowned
German Producer

and co-owner of Constantin Film,

had recent success
with "Smilla's Sense
of Snow" in 1997.

In June, 1998,
PSM leaked details

from a revised draft
by Alan McElroy

dated January 22nd, 1998.

This would be the only time
information from the script

was made available
to the public.

While excited to
share the leaks,

unknown to the magazine
or its readers,

McElroy's scripts had
already been rejected.

[Rombie speaking]

- [Narrator] In July, 1998,

George Romero ended speculation

in an exclusive interview
with DVD Review.

During the Video
Software Dealers Expo,

Romero confirmed he
had signed an agreement

only the week prior
to write and direct

the "Resident Evil" film.

(low growling)

The truth is, Romero had taken
months to negotiate a deal

and make a decision.

At some point prior
to July, 1998,

the decision was made
to drop Alan McElroy

and Romero took
over writing duties.

- Back in the late
'90s and early 2000s.

HomepageOfTheDead.com
was the absolute best

message board for
anything George Romero.

That's where I spent
a lot of my time

and I remember reading
a lot of posts that,

"Hey, George is making
'Resident Evil'."

And I'm like, "Okay,
I'm down for that."

The rumor mill at the
time on that internet,

it wasn't very rampant.

You got one or two
bits of information

and you kind of hung
on that for a while.

In a way, that,
"Oh, George tackling

one of my favorite video games?

How could this not be a win-win?

How is this not going
to be a blockbuster?"

- [Narrator speaking]

- Coming off of the
excitement I had

of the "Resident Evil
2" live action trailer,

at that time, there was
nothing more I wanted

than a live action
"Resident Evil" movie.

When it was first
announced, I was so excited.

- [Narrator speaking]

- And the Capcom
people themselves,

I mean, they were
very, very happy

to have George on the film.

And they didn't hide the fact
that "Biohazard" the games

were inspired directly
by George Romero's films.

If they didn't exist, there
would be no "Biohazard."

- [Narrator speaking]

During online chat sessions,
Romero divulged to fans

that certain elements from the
game were planned to change

and explained his process
for writing the screenplay.

- But it really
does sort of follow.

It's much more like
horror and action script

than I think than
we see in the film

that was originally released.

- [Narrator speaking]

In a six week period,

Romero, along with his
Producer, Peter Grunwald,

had written an initial
10 page treatment

and three drafts of the script

dated September 29th,
October 5th, and October 7th.

- And so we see the treatment

and then we have sort
of three scripts.

They're very congested
in their timeframe.

So he wrote this
treatment in August of '98

with a full script in September
of '98, September 29th,

and then we see October
5th and October 7th

is the revision drafts.

- [Narrator] Throughout
the writing period,

the story remained unchanged,

though a variety of minor
alterations and edits occurred.

- The variances between the
scripts is pretty scant.

There are not a
whole lot of editing.

Here's an example
of the minor edit

from the October 5th to
the October 7th draft,

where even just something simple

where there's just
a change in dialogue

to say from a Scud to Stinger.

So I do think that
October 7th one

really is the final one
that got handed over.

Even the October 5th one
just has minor edits,

mostly about dialogue
and some grammar

that were cleaned up
for the October 7th one.

And so that feels like
the most polished one

that was handed off.

The other big piece
of it that was edited

out of that last final one
is it's the only version

in which there is
no note in the end

for a title card of, "Coming
soon, Resident Evil 2."

It just, the screen goes black.

The treatment and all of
the other two versions

promote and advertise that there
will be a "Resident Evil 2"

kind of right off the bat, that
we're gonna get a franchise.

- [Narrator] George
contacted friend

and special effects
artist, Greg Nicotero

if his company KNB
FX could provide

these special
effects for the film.

Of concern was the game's
climactic boss monster,

the Tyrant.

Nicotero contacted
legendary horror artist,

Bernie Wrightson, known for
his work on "Swamp Thing,"

"Cycle of the Werewolf," and
the comic book adaptation

of George Romero's "Creepshow"

and commissioned him
to sketch designs.

- My dad's collaboration
with George Romero

essentially began with a call
that came from Stephen King,

whom I believe he had already

had a working
relationship for then

on "Cycle of the Werewolf."

Stephen was a fan of my dad's

and obviously my
dad a fan of his.

He got the call about this
project explaining like,

"George Romero and I
are basically doing

our rendition of an EC
Comic horror anthology.

Would you be interested in doing

the actual comic book tie-in
that goes with the movie?"

So of course he was interested.

This would've been
about '98 or '99,

he got his first phone call
from the guys at KNB FX

for this untitled Kevin
Williamson project

that Robert Rodriguez
was gonna direct,

which ended up
becoming "The Faculty."

From my understanding, Greg
Nicotero read the script

and read this giant
sea creature alien

that they had to build for
it and thought to himself,

"We need a Bernie Wrightson
creature for this project."

And so they contacted
him out of the blue,

approached him
about this project.

He was still living in New
York state at this point

and yeah, was basically
doing his illustrations

and sending them via fax.

At this point, he had
already been planning,

at least in his mind, the
idea of transitioning away

from doing predominantly
comic book artwork

and trying to get more creature

and character design
work for film.

So after "The Faculty,"
he was prompted

to basically move from New
York state to Los Angeles

to further his prospects
working in film.

Contacted Greg about
any follow-up projects,

and that's how he got
involved with "Resident Evil."

He's like, "Yeah, George
Romero is gonna be

directing this adaptation
of this video game."

Is he familiar with it?

Not really, but he knows
what to to go off of.

And so that's how he came about

doing the character
design for the Tyrant,

which to my understanding
is the only character

that he was designing.

- [Narrator] After
multiple revisions,

Romero submitted
his first draft.

Now he would wait for
Constantin Film's approval.

The February, 1999 issue of
"Electronic Gaming Monthly"

published an extensive
four page interview

with George Romero, though
the actual interview within

had been conducted
months earlier.

While the interview left
fans excited for the film,

the EGM article
marks the final time

George Romero remained
positive about "Resident Evil."

In May, 1999,
Gamespot interviewed

senior Capcom producer,
Yoshiki Okamoto.

[Narrator speaking]

And with that statement,
all hell broke loose.

Rumors circulated.

PSX.IGN threw
gasoline on the fire

with an unverified story
from an unknown source

that in retrospect sounded
more like a smear campaign

against the director.

[Narrator speaking]

- I was very aware and
actually I'd been contacted

by George's assistant.

"We're planning to come to Japan

and George really wants
to meet up with you,"

and I was very happy about that.

And then suddenly the
plug was pulled on this

and it was very disheartening
that they would do that.

- [Narrator] George
Romero moved on

to prep his next film "Bruiser,"

but any chance fans had to ask

about the "Resident Evil" movie,

George was just as confused.

[Narrator speaking]

[Narrator speaking]

Between May and September, 1999,

Constantin Film had either
failed to inform Romero

he had been fired,

or were retaining him until
his replacement was secured.

Websites, news articles,
and fan speculation

continued to spread rumors

that Romero was indeed
still attached to direct

and confusion continued.

[Narrator speaking]

The months gave way to rumors

of new writers and directors
attached to the film,

but still no official statement
for Romero's termination

and no update on
the film itself.

Would there even be a movie?

After more than a year of
speculation and rumors,

Variety reported
that Constantine Film

had found its new writer and
director of "Mortal Kombat,"

"Event Horizon," and
"Soldier," Paul W.S. Anderson

had signed with Constantine Film

to write and direct the
"Resident Evil" movie.

- [Narrator] The plot
synopsis caused revolt

among fans of the series.

[Narrator speaking]

- [Narrator] Anderson previously
pursued the film rights

after playing the video
games, but discovered

Constantin had already
purchased them years prior.

Not to be dissuaded, Anderson
wrote an original treatment,

dubbed "The Undead."

If Constantin Film passed on it,

he planned to shop the
project to other studios

as an original zombie film.

Unknown to the public
or Paul Anderson,

years of development on
the "Resident Evil" movie

had taken its toll.

The rights were set to expire

and Constantin Film prepared
to abandon the project.

Anderson pitched "The Undead"

and asked French
producer Samuel Hadida

to pay for the
renewal of the rights.

Eichinger loved the concept

and hired Anderson
to write and direct.

[Narrator speaking]

After the announcement,

a leaked casting call
revealed most of the plot

through its character
descriptions,

confirming the script would
indeed be an original story.

Fans became confused
and irritated

at the idea of a film
based on "Resident Evil,"

lacking few connections
to the actual games.

- [Rombie speaking]

- [Narrator speaking]

- [Rombie speaking]

- [Narrator] Following
Anderson's announcement,

a review of George
Romero's screenplay

appeared on the website,
Ain't It Cool News.

- [Rombie speaking]

- The characters themselves

are actually the
characters from the game.

So we see Jill and Chris as
being the main characters,

we have Wesker as the
sort of main villain,

none of which find their
way into the Anderson film.

And it does feel a little
bit more like a game.

- [Rombie speaking]

- The social commentary
in it is the sort of,

both the military group

and of course the
Umbrella corporation

are not to be trusted,

that they created
a bio warfare thing

that was immediately
gonna be used for ill.

(dramatic music)
(loud gunfire)

(low growl)
(loud explosion)

That there was no
capacity for them

to have made these experiments

and have done something
that could be used

in any positive way.

And in particular when the
military got their hands on it,

that it would absolutely be used

for its worst possible way
in weapons and warfare.

And so I think that
directly comes from the game

to an extent, but I think as
also part of Romero kind of,

if we kind of go back and
look at some of the commentary

that we see in
"Day of the Dead,"

is this sort of critique
of over militarization,

this sort of melding between
the military and politics

and corporations sort of have
this sort of fascist theology

that we see kind of emergent,
and I think that he sees

that this is another
story to tell that;

that ultimately when a new
weapon is going to be developed,

we can't really trust it not
to be used for maximum harm,

that it wouldn't be used
in a way that's defensive,

but it would be used in
a way that's offensive

and would immediately
get out of control.

I think that some of the other
ways that things were changed

about whether characters
were in the military or not

I think were done
to dramatic effect

to kind of compel the
story a little bit more.

It gave an interaction
between Chris and Jill

that's very different.

They're lovers, they don't
know entirely how much

they can trust
about one another,

so it kind of leads to
this dramatic interaction

between the two of them
as it moves forward.

But I think really it's just
that Wesker is that sort of,

embodies all of this critique,
that he's lying to everybody,

he's leading them all
on a false mission

just so he can monetize

and ultimately exploit
these these weapons.

And I think that that
kind of goes, again,

that people just aren't
going to be able to get along

with one another when needed.

Rather, they're gonna just
further the apocalypse.

- [Rombie speaking]

[Rombie speaking]

- It has a lot more in
common with the game

than the Anderson film does.

I think there's also a lot more
Easter eggs in this probably

that are better for
fans of the game,

like the zombie sharks.

There's a couple of scenes
where the character's like,

"Oh, I can't open that door."

And the person's like,
"Well, I have the green key.

You just have the blue one,
so I can get through this."

Which feels very
much like video games

where you have to wander around

and go find the
different colored keys
or items or whatever

to open different
passages through the game.

- [Rombie speaking]

George Romero
was a pioneer in his field,

not just in horror movies,
but in horror pop culture.

Having him involved in
the series so early on

I think would've had
the potential for him

to leave a blueprint
that could have been

a massive presence in video
game to movie adaptations.

- I think that a lot of
times he wrote these sort of

longer treatments to kind
of get out of his head

the story he wanted to tell,

particularly with
an original idea.

Just get all this out

and then maybe start to
fit it into a script form,

start to think about how
it can be dramatized,

how you can kind of
fit it into scenes

and sort of do this so it's
not told in the prose style.

And many of his first
drafts are a little rough.

They're good and usually
just need sort of that work

because I think it
is just sort of,

he has an idea and he
needs to get it out.

I think "Resident Evil,"

there's very little substantive
edits between the drafts.

It's some dialogue
that's fairly minor,

it is changing around
a couple of scenes

or sort of the progression
of how something happens

as they go between maybe one
level of the lab to another.

The only real
significant differences

is kind of about some
of the foreshadowing,

about the BOW bio
weapons and the Tyrant.

The first draft has
some allusions to it

that kind of foreshadow or give
away what these things are,

and then those are
sort of omitted later

to sort propel that
there's more suspense,

you don't really
know what's going on,

you're following the story

and getting the
info revealed to you

as the characters are also
having that information

revealed to them.

I mean, I think you would be
surprised to find any filmmaker

that writes one
draft of something

and then they're done with it

- [Narrator] A year later,

website Resident Evil: A New
Blood transcribed the entirety

of George Romero's
October 7th draft

after months of circulation
within private groups.

Fan reactions remained divided.

- I remember reading
it in a PDF format,

scrolling all the pages,

sitting on the computer
screen, reading it.

And I kept thinking, "This
would be an amazing movie. Why?

We love the video
game. We love George.

George is the master
of the zombies.

How did we not get this?"

And ultimately, I think
it's one of the biggest

missed opportunities in the
last 20, 30 years of movies

that we didn't get a George
Romero "Resident Evil" movie.

- [Narrator] After
more than five years

since its announcement,

"Resident Evil"
starring Milla Jovovich

and Michelle Rodriguez

released in theaters
on March 12th, 2002,

earning more than
$100 million worldwide

off an estimated
$30 million budget.

Critical and fan reception
remained mixed however,

and with each new sequel, the
same question would be asked:

Would George Romero's
vision for the film

have been better than the
film we ultimately received?

- I went to the theater
the day it released.

I could not wait to see it.

And I remember the
excitement I had

kept me going through that film,

but I just remember there
was scenes where I was like,

"Where's more zombies?
Where's this from the games?

Where's that from the games?"

And I was young and I didn't
understand at the time

that they were trying
to do a retelling of it.

And I think for the
most part, they did

a well job with the first
"Resident Evil" movie,

but there was a
part of me that just

was a little disappointed
that we didn't get to see

a lot of the things that
we'd seen in the games.

A lot of the creatures that
we'd seen in the games.

And I was excited, I enjoyed it,

but I was a little disappointed.

- [Narrator speaking]

Romero further explained

that while he seemed to connect
with Producer Robert Kulzer,

his frustrations were
with Bernd Eichinger.

[Narrator speaking]

but I don't think
they knew what it was.

- It is an extremely
gory script,

an extremely violent script.

And Romero is noted,
fair and unfairly,

for having that kind
of throughout his work.

I think because of the way
some of the gore was employed

in "Dawn of the Dead"
or "Day of the Dead,"

it doesn't feel very gory,
it feels campy almost.

But there's so
much more going on.

There's a lot of
great zombie gore.

He had great special
effects teams of course

with Savini and Nicotero
that we see this stuff,

but this film just
feels so much more gory,

so much more violent,
and so much more angry.

And I don't know if
it's because he felt

that was the source material,

I don't know if it
was just sort of

where he was at in
his head in the '90s

and at this time that
he was writing that,

that this is sort
of what came out.

- [Narrator speaking]

but not a big event movie."

From Constantin's perspective,

the extreme violence and
gore in Romero's script

left Producers struggling
how to market a film

they envisioned as an event
film for a wider audience.

- I think this was
another reason maybe

that we didn't see
this come to fruition

was that the '90s were fairly
conservative in a lot of ways,

and I think this
would've been a film

that would've been
rated NC-17 or R,

and we already had a few NC-17
films come out in the '90s

that were absolute
bombs at the box office

'cause not enough people
could go see them.

Horror fans love
to go see an R film

'cause we know it's
gonna be really gory,

but the studios
wanted kids to come in

and they wanted that demographic
of 13 to 18 buying tickets.

- [Narrator speaking]

(person screaming)
(zombie groaning)

(gunshot fires)
(loud screaming)

(flesh ripping)
(pained screaming)

(person groans)
(blood splattering)

(loud gunfire)
(flesh ripping)

(person groans)

- It probably wasn't gonna be
right for that time period.

It was not going to be
able to be widely released

in theaters with
the level of gore

that was gonna be
required for it.

- [Narrator] If Eichinger stance

wasn't made explicitly
clear, he further elaborated

when he was interviewed by
German digital magazine,

Spiegel Online, when
the movie released.

[Narrator speaking]

- It's a mean-spirited market

that is mostly
controlled by people

still that have no
affection or affinity

for not only this genre,
but for movies in general.

They think that when they
give you their million

that they're buying you.

- I guess you could
say it was so upsetting

that you have the godfather
of the zombie horror genre,

the person who inspired
the "Resident Evil" series

lined up to make a movie who
has already proven himself

countless times with his films,

with the "Resident
Evil 2" trailer,

this guy knew "Resident Evil."

So when I found out
he wrote the script

and it never came to be,
it was very upsetting.

(somber music)

- No!

- I feel like if
anybody was going to do

the "Resident Evil"
Series justice,

it would've been George Romero.

Again, he's the godfather
of the zombie horror genre.

- Romero's kind of
famously had bad luck,

I hate to say it.

He's been unlucky
in a lot of ways.

He's very independently minded.

He doesn't like to
deal with nonsense.

He has a very low
tolerance for nonsense.

And in Hollywood
has got a very huge,

thick layer of nonsense.

So the most successful
directors in Hollywood

are the one that
can manage that,

and George just was not
that type of person.

He would not sell his soul
just to get a film done.

- He understood how
zombies should behave.

He understood storytelling.

He understood all of
the fear and terror

and tension that "Resident
Evil" is known for.

So no better guy to do
it than George A. Romero.

- So we have a
treatment, a September,

and two October
drafts in the archive.

Whether anything
else was ever written

is a little hard to say,

but one thing that the
archive does very well

is document his
creative history.

There are huge gaps in
production histories,

but his writing is
very well documented

And so I think that we can say
that this is what he wrote,

that there aren't missing
drafts and missing versions.

So I do think that we
can confidently say

that he really worked on this
for a little over a month.

- [Narrator] Bernd
Eichinger personal campaign

against extreme
violence and gore

conflicted with George
Romero's passion

to match the tone
of the video game.

This creative dispute resulted
in George's dismissal.

Perhaps the biggest
crime of all,

the "Resident Evil" film
resulted in a renaissance

of the zombie horror genre

with hundreds of new
zombie movies released,

while the Godfather
of the Dead himself

became less relevant as
the new millennium wore on.

(contemplative music)

Is it no wonder his later films
failed to garner attention

when the industry was already

oversaturated with zombie media?

Romero would return to
the series he created

with his long and
development sequel

"Land of the Dead" in 2005.

Romero directed
two more entries,

"Diary of the Dead" in 2007

and "Survival of
the Dead" in 2009.

[Narrator speaking]

- He was later in
life a little bitter

about the course that
his career had taken.

But personal note, I mean, I
really respect his life choices

and the way he really
stuck to his guns.

- [Narrator] By then,
Capcom already felt

zombies were a tired trope

and sought to
reinvigorate the series

with new horrific creatures
to keep players returning.

"Resident Evil 4" released in
2005 to overwhelming praise

with sales exceeding 12
million copies worldwide.

The series shifted focus
to action horror gameplay

until returning
entirely to horror

with the release of
"Resident Evil 7" in 2017

and "Village: Resident
Evil 8" in 2021.

Combined, the two games
sold over 19 million copies.

Capcom also remade older
entries in its series

with updated gameplay
for modern audiences.

In the past decade, "Resident
Evil" games averaged

10 million copies
sold per release.

Capcom's survival
horror franchise had
never been stronger.

Constantin Films
released six films

with Paul W.S. Anderson,

with combined box
office earnings over
$1 billion worldwide.

Constantin rebooted
the film series

with "Resident Evil:
Welcome to Raccoon City"

directed by Johannes
Roberts released in 2021

to underwhelming
reviews and box office.

In Netflix's series simply
called "Resident Evil"

released the following year

received far better with
critics and audiences,

Netflix canceled a TV
series a month later.

Rumors persist of a new
film in development.

- The movies are always
going to be unique

in that they're based
on the video game

that was inherently based on
movies, or a genre of movies.

And there's always going to
be a logistical challenge

and a creative challenge to
replicate the kind of impact

that movies and TV
series aspire to have,

but without any of the cliches
or the the shortcomings

or the differences
for that matter

that video games
bring to the table.

So I don't think there
has been a perfect

rendition of "Biohazard" on
movie theaters or TV screens,

but I'm enthusiastic that if
they can find the right talent

and they can see
more recent examples

of successful video game movies,

also more recent just
horror movies in general,

I think if they
can focus on that

we can definitely see a good

"Biohazard" live action
interpretation in our lifetime.

- [Narrator] As the
21st Century wore on

and hundreds of zombie
films consumed by audiences,

one fact became
absolutely clear;

every single one were
indebted to the work

of Image Ten and
George A. Romero.

- What do you think
about these offshoots

or tributes or ripoffs
of the Dead movies,

specifically "Return
of the Living Dead,"

and of course now
"The Walking Dead?"

(audience chuckles)

- In four words,
it pisses me off.

(audience laughing)

(audience applauding)

- And I'm sure it seemed like
an easy idea at the time,

but it changed the world.

"Walking Dead," I mean,
there's zombie emojis

on your phone now!

Why? George, Jack, Russ.

Those three guys.

- [Narrator] In 2009,
Spike TV's Scream Awards

honored George Romero
with the Mastermind Award

given by director
Quentin Tarantino.

During his speech,
Tarantino stated that the A

in George A. Romero stood for...

- A (beep) genius!

(audience cheering)

- He was someone that every
time you would tell him,

"Your movies changed my life,"

you could hear the man
just blush and just-

And he would say, "Oh, I
don't know about that."

- [Narrator] Despite his age,
Romero remained productive

with attempts to adapt the novel

"The Zombie Autopsies" to film,

a seventh entry of his
"Living Dead" series

called "Road of the Dead,"

and began work on a
novel set in his universe

called "The Living Dead."

Romero would never
finish these projects.

- When I saw George, this was
in March of 2017, as I recall,

maybe April, somewhere
in the spring.

And I walked up to his table,

and when I saw him, a part
of my brain kind of panicked

because he would
look very frail.

Very gaunt, very frail.

And that was, I'd never
seen him quite like that.

And it was just-

But that part, it was like,

it's like the guys from
that movie "Inside Out,"

one guy noticed it and
the other guys told him

to shut the hell up.

"No, don't even look.

Don't even think about that."

So I noticed it, but I went,

"Nope, not gonna
think about this.

Nope, not gonna
think about this."

But he was still just as
warm and engaging as ever.

And we went out to
dinner later that night

with his wife Suz, and we
were just shooting the shit

about the news and
politics or whatever,

hardly talked about
movies at all.

And then we drove him back
over across the street

to his hotel, and he
got out and I said,

"George, I'll see you around.

I'll see you at the next one."

And he just turned and
he went, "All right."

And that was the
last time I saw him.

- I grabbed my phone and I
was scrolling through Twitter

and I saw a tweet
from a friend of mine

that had said he had
heard that George passed.

And I kind of stopped
because in this day and age,

you see that stuff.

And I kept scrolling
and I saw another one.

And at this point I
started to get worried.

So I picked up the phone
and I texted his manager,

and I just remember
putting, "Is it true?"

And he replied, "Yeah,"

- I get a phone
call from a friend,

and she goes, "Did
you hear yet?"

And I was like, "No, what
are you talking about?"

She goes, "George
Romero's dead."

And I went, "Nah."

And...

(George choking up)

Yeah, so then I looked it up

and I saw this article
and that article,

and George was dead.

And I sat on my
bed and I sobbed.

I fucking sobbed.

- When I heard that
George Romero passed away,

there was a profound sadness

because it seemed like a lot
of the joy, the camaraderie,

and the unity that he brought
to the filmmaking community,

and all of the actors and crew,

everybody involved in his
films had felt together.

And it just felt like there
was going to be a loss.

And maybe that would
just kind of...

I hoped not, but I kind of
thought maybe it would diminish.

- [Narrator] On July 16th, 2017,

George Andrew Romero
passed away in his sleep

after a battle with lung cancer.

His wife Suz Romero and his
daughter Tina were by his side

all while listening to the score

of one of his favorite
films, "The Quiet Man."

The outpouring of grief
and loss was worldwide,

not just from friends, family,

and people that
worked with George,

but also from the
wider film community.

- When Variety talked
about his passing,

I knew my circle of people
knew who George Romero was.

I knew the horror fans
knew who George Romero was.

I knew Fangoria, he was
a god in Fangoria, right?

But the outside world,
the real filmmakers,

the Academy Awards and stuff?

Variety knows who
George Romero is,

and a big piece on George
and how he was so great

and talented and
amazing, you know?

And it's just like, "Holy
hell. He wasn't just George."

He was George fucking Romero.

- [Narrator] Three
months after his passing,

George Romero was added to
the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

His widow, Suz, accepted
the star on his behalf

with guest speakers Edgar
Wright, Greg Nicotero,

and Malcolm McDowell present.

- You wake up the next day
and you start thinking like,

"Okay, he's not
here. What do we do?"

'Cause George was always here,

George was always
gonna give an interview

or he was gonna be
at the next show

and we were gonna talk to him
about what he was working on.

And we didn't have him anymore.

- [Narrator] Suz Romero founded

the George A. Romero
Foundation the following year,

citing a responsibility

to not only preserve
George's legacy,

but also celebrate pioneers
in the film industry

and inspire a new
generation of filmmakers.

- The way she tells
it is sort of on,

as he was beginning to fade,
towards the end of his life,

she said to him,
"How do you feel?

How do you feel
about your legacy

and the films that you've
made, this body of work?"

And he said, "Eh,
nobody gives a shit."

She said, "What are
you talking about?

You have millions of people
that love you and your moves."

He says, "Yeah, but..."

I guess he didn't really feel
validated as a filmmaker.

Suzanne was determined after
he passed to prove him wrong.

She said, "I'm
just gonna show you

that you are in fact
a worthy filmmaker

worthy of being remembered."

Of course, he made his
mark on movie history,

but he never felt validated
as a real filmmaker,

even though the stories were
coming out that he had now,

he and Scorsese had been renting

the same print of
"Tales of Hoffmann."

Some kid from Brooklyn
rented it out!

And the kid from Brooklyn says,

"Who the hell's got this now?"

Some kid from the
Bronx rented it.

Never met, but they were renting

the same movie
from this archive.

- And I think they do
a lot of great work

of trying to help figure
out how to inspire

the next generation
of filmmakers.

- [Narrator] As an initiative
to preserve George's work,

the George A. Romero
Archives was created

at the Hillman Library within
the University of Pittsburgh.

- The Romero Archive
is quite large,

a little over a hundred
boxes of material,

and most of this is paper.

So when you think
about boxes of paper,

that's a lot of material.

It's really a testament
of his creative history.

He did struggle, and that he
did wasn't always successful.

And I don't think that
that's a critique.

I think that that's instructive.

That he is considered
one of the greatest

horror filmmakers of all time,

he's had this mass of influence.

He's always hailed among
these biggest directors,

most important
directors in horror,

and yet he didn't get
everything he ever wanted made.

And I think that's good for
aspiring writers and filmmakers

to understand and to see,

that just because
you wrote something

and you sent it off
and it got rejected,

doesn't mean you're not
going to be successful.

You'll just have to keep trying.

- [Narrator] And hosted
at the Monroeville Mall

where "Dawn of the Dead" was
filmed nearly 50 years ago,

Living Dead Weekend
honors the work

and legacy of zombie cinema,

primarily the films
of George Romero.

Each year, thousands
travel to the mall

to meet the cast and
crew of his films,

partake in guest panels,
and tour filming locations.

On July 4th, 2021,

the Monroeville Mall
held a special ceremony

in what was once the
Clock Tower Court

and renamed it Romero Court

with a bust crafted by
Christian Stavrakis.

George A. Romero's legacy
continues to live on

through a foundation
that honors his legacy,

through millions of fans
that celebrate his work,

and through those that
still love and miss him.

- George's films
literally changed

the face of horror
as we know it.

- Romero is a legend.

We miss him.

What he did for
zombies, for horror,

and for film in general,
he'll never be forgotten.

- There's so much more
that he wanted to tell us.

There's so many more stories

that he was so creative
and so prolific.

We can have this
understanding of him now,

and it's a shame
that in some ways

we couldn't have understood
this while he was still alive.

- I really wish I had had
the chance to work with him.

- He was a great loss to
the filmmaking community

and to the world in general.

- The "Resident Evil" series
exists because of him.

My love for this series,

all the friends I've made
is all because of him.

- I would not be the man I am

if it wasn't for George Romero.

- I ran over and got
him to sign an autograph

for my brother Tom.

I remember he wrote, "To Tom:

When there's no
more room in hell,

I'll see you in Pittsburgh."

(Pat laughs)

- I don't know where my
life would be right now

if it wasn't for George Romero.

- It sparked a lot of
people's love of him

to be turned back up,

and we have so much stuff
going on in George's world now,

I wish he was here to see it.

- What he did was bring
all of those people

from all of those films
into one big family,

and all of the fans
all around that

are all part of that group too.

So that is his legacy.

It's not just the films that
he made that are on a shelf

or being watched at
a particular time.

It's that interconnection
between all the people

that he touched in his life.

- I just wanna thank
everybody again.

It's great to be here, and
thanks particularly to the fans.

I mean, I love you guys.

Thank you!

(audience cheering)
(loud applause)

(eerie music)

(wind howls)
(eerie music)

It's fabulous.

I love making the movies,

and it's great that
there's a game,

which is like a
flashback to that genre.

I can feel maybe a little bit

like I had some influence on it.

I feel very flattered.

(spooky music)