Return of the Living Dead reboot adds Devon Sawa to the cast
Almost forty years ago, writer/director Dan O’Bannon delivered one of the most highly entertaining zombie movies of all time with The Return of the Living Dead (watch it HERE)… and in the process, spawned a franchise. There was the goofy comedy of The Return of the Living Dead Part II, the “Romeo and Juliet with zombies” love story Return of the Living Dead ///, and a couple sequels nobody paid much attention to, Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis and Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave. The franchise has been dormant for twenty years – but now we have dueling Return of the Living Dead projects heading our way! And the “duel” part is pretty serious, because the folks behind these projects keep tossing lawsuits back and forth. We’ve seen some recent updates on Trash’s Revenge, which is described as being part of the “Return of the Living Dead Universe” and is coming from ROTLD Originals LLC and DRagonSTUDIOS, but ten months have passed since we saw the teaser trailer for the reboot of The Return of the Living Dead, which is coming from Muck and Kill Her Goats director Steve Wolsh, who also happens to be the CEO of the company Living Dead Media. Things have been eerily quiet on that one… until a new teaser was shown at LA Comic Con over the weekend, where it was revealed that genre regular Devon Sawa (Idle Hands, Final Destination, Chucky, etc.) is in the cast!
Sawa discussed his involvement with the project in an interview with Victoria Venin, where he said he filmed his role (for which he was wearing a Santa hat and crossed paths with the zombie known as the Tar Man) during the summer:
Information found on the Living Dead Media website reveals: Our reboot of Return of the Living Dead will expand the existing world created by the original 5 films, while staying true to the R-rated, sci-fi, horror, dark comedy roots adored by fans of the cult classic around the world for the last 35 years. We are excited to resurrect this storied franchise for current fans and new generations of zombie fans. Here’s the set up: Taking place 18 months after the events at the UNEEDA Warehouse in Louisville, KY, a new Trioxin 2-4-5 leak puts a small Pennsylvania town on the brink of a zombie outbreak during Christmas, 1985. If surviving a zombie outbreak isn’t hard enough, the characters and the Army will have to also contend with blizzard conditions. This Christmas, it’s Tarman who will be coming to town. Since it picks up after the events of the original film, you could call this a sequel rather than a reboot.
The new Return of the Living Dead will be released by WithAnO Productions, only in theatres. The filmmakers promise a bloody, stunning new chapter, made with no CGI and all practical FX. Special effects artist Tony Gardner, best known these days for his work on the Chucky franchise, is working on the reboot – a return to the franchise, as he created the half-corpse zombie for the original film. Gardner created the new version of the iconic zombie Tarman, featured in the teaser trailer. Storyboard artist Pete Von Sholly, who worked on Return of the Living Dead Part II and III, created the storyboards for the teaser. Sawa revealed that Gardner was the one who brought him into the reboot.
When we first heard about this project, it was aiming for a Christmas 2025 release, but word out of LA Comic Con indicates that it may have been pushed back to November 2026.
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