‘Night of the Living Dead’ Getting Virtual Reality Experience

George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead has been inspiring filmmakers for generations, despite the film’s budgetary limitations of the time creating a lo-fi look. The concept behind the zombie film is heading to a new stage of technology as Supersphere aims to take the film into the realm of virtual reality.

Bloody Disgusting reports that Supersphere has teamed up with Image Ten to create the multi-platform experience to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the film’s debut. The project is expected to debut some time in 2018.

“Virtual reality is incredibly stimulating and offers a whole new slate of possibilities for Night of the Living Dead fans to engage with the world and its characters,” Gary Streiner of Image Ten explained. “We are excited to partner with Supersphere to explore what that will look like, and to deliver something special to fans in the new year.”

“Night of the Living Dead is one of those films that has become a cultural touchstone; it revolutionized the horror genre and to this day it influences how we envision zombies,” Doug Allenstein, Partner and Executive Producer of Supersphere noted. “Over the last fifty years the original film has generated a vast franchise and we’re thrilled to be working with the team at Image Ten to now expand that franchise to the next generation of storytelling: virtual reality.”

The virtual reality experience isn’t the only upgrade the film will be getting, as it was inducted into the Criterion Collection, resulting in a Blu-ray release that’s full of supplemental materials.

Sadly, Romero passed away earlier this year and won’t get to see how his film was honored, but his son aims to carry on his legacy with the all-new film Rise of the Living Dead.

“This one is the prelude to Night, the film that created the pop culture phenomenon that has inspired thousands of filmmakers from backyard auteurs to $180M features to the single longest running and most successful show in the history of television,” Cameron Romero shared on his Facebook earlier this year. “This one has been a long time coming. And it is my absolute promise to you all that this film will be everything it needs to be.”

“It’s my prelude. Some may call it a fine line but there is a big difference,” he noted, claiming it wasn’t technically a “prequel.”

Stay tuned for further details about the Night of the Living Dead VR experience.

[H/T Bloody Disgusting]