Night of the Animated Dead: Dule Hill and Katharine Isabelle Board Up the House In Exclusive Clip
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has provided ComicBook with an exclusive first look at a clip from Night of the Animated Dead, the upcoming, animated remake of George Romero's horror masterpiece Night of the Living Dead, which stars Josh Duhamel, Dulé Hill, Katharine Isabelle, James Roday Rodriguez, Katee Sackhoff, Will Sasso, Jimmi Simpson and Nancy Travis. The movie will be released on digital on September 21, 2021, and then come to Blu-ray combo pack and DVD on October 5, just in time for all your spooky season celebrations.
In the clip, Ben (Dulé Hill) and Barbara (Katharine Isabelle) board up the house they're stuck in, hoping to keep the zombies out. You'll notice that the original dialogue from the 1968 original has been retained.
"For this, since we were pretty much doing a shot-for-shot remake, I really studied the [Romero] movie quite a lot," Isabelle told ComicBook. "It also just happened to be on TV the morning I was having my breakfast to go to the studio. So I was like, 'Okay, perfect. The universe really wants me to nail this. I watched it repeatedly and just tried to be true to Judith O'Dae's original performance."
"I actually was very excited about playing this role, because as much as I love the characters I have played, it's only as of late that I'm getting opportunities to play really strong people -- like, energetically strong," Hill told ComicBook. "Ben is not someone who is reserved in any way, and I appreciated being able to show that aspect of us, as well -- that we have a voice and we're not afraid to use our voice, and we're not afraid to use our whole selves to press towards whatever it is we want to accomplish. That's what Ben is for me: he is a full being, and in the midst of a challenge, he's going to press on and meet that challenge full-on."
In Night of the Animated Dead, siblings Barbara and Johnny visit their father's grave in a remote cemetery in Pennsylvania when they are suddenly set upon by zombies. Barbara flees and takes refuge in an abandoned farmhouse along with stranded motorist Ben and four local survivors found hiding in the cellar. Together, the group must fight to stay alive against the oncoming horde of zombies while also confronting their own fears and prejudices.
Night of the Animated Dead features the voice talents of Josh Duhamel (Jupiter's Legacy, Transformers) as Harry Cooper, Dulé Hill (The West Wing, Psych) as Ben, Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps) as Barbara, James Roday Rodriguez (A Million Little Things, Psych) as Tom, Katee Sackhoff (The Mandalorian, Battlestar Galactica) as Judy, Will Sasso (MadTV, Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco) as Sheriff McClelland, Jimmi Simpson (Westworld) as Johnny and Nancy Travis (Last Man Standing) as Helen Cooper.
Executive Producers are Richard Potter (Diciembres), Thomas DeFeo (The Seventh Day) and Jamie Elliott (Fighting with My Family). Producers are Ralph E. Portillo, p.g.a. (Buddy Games), Robert Feldman, p.g.a. (Dr. Shroud) and Kevin Kasha (I Spit on Your Grave). Animation services were provided by Demente Animation Studio. The original Night of the Living Dead was written by George A. Romero (Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead) and John Russo (The Majorettes, Santa Claws). Night of the Animated Dead was produced by Michael J. Luisi, p.g.a. (The Call, Oculus) and directed by Jason Axinn (To Your Last Death).