ROCKY, ROMERO & ZOMBIES?
According to Variety, Rocky Horror composer Richard Hartley has been hired to write the music for Diamond Dead, which is a black comedy about an ’80s-style rock band that comes back from the dead!
A while back the Diabolical Dominion quoted none other than George Romero as being attached to direct this project. Here is what he told them.
‘Another one which I am also working on is called Diamond Dead, about a rock band, that is killed when one of their girlfriends wishes them dead, and a building falls on them, and she makes a deal with the devil to get them back, but is unaware that when they return from the dead they will be flesh lacking zombie rockers. Think of Rocky Horror meets Night of the Living Dead. I think it will be a lot of fun if we get to do it…’
Variety adds, ‘Hartley is being joined by Night of the Living Dead director George Romero, who will direct and has completed a rewrite of a script by Brian Cooper, who wrote lyrics to songs in the film…’
‘If you’re going to do dead guys, who are you going to call?’ Romero said. ‘I loved the humor in the script, and the chance to work with Richard Hartley.’
‘The story revolves around a subpar garage band and an aspiring female singer who wants to sing with the guys, who are on the brink of breaking. Unfortunately, she dashes her own hopes when she accidentally wipes out the entire band.’
‘She makes a deal with Death to bring them back, but they return as zombies, which wasn’t what she was banking on,’ Romero explained. ‘To make it more humorous, Death has a sick sense of humor and arranged it so that they are magically a smash-hit popular band. Whatever problems with things like decay doesn’t mean they can’t still play a mean lick.’
‘The surprise participant was Hartley, who has assiduously avoided rock pic terrain. He’s produced bands; has scored films for Bernardo Bertolucci and Mike Newell; and has continued collaborating with Richard O’Brien, co-scripter and lyricist of ‘Rocky Horror.’ The duo have completed stage musical ‘The Stripper’ for a 2004 London bow.’
‘Hartley changed his tune when he sparked to the macabre humor in Diamond Dead. He has already written music to nine songs in the film. It isn’t a traditional musical where characters burst into song, but Hartley said the tunes have particular relevance to the story.
Courtesy of Bloody Disgusting
Special Mention to Diabolical Dominion
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