July 26, 2009
Sharon Ceccatti-Hill & Clayton Hill
Dawn of the Dead’s “weapon coordinator” and prominently featured “sweater zombie”, Clayton Hill, passes away aged 78.
He is outlived by his wife, Sharon Ceccatti-Hill, who has shared many a scene with him in the film as the equally famous “nurse zombie” character.
May 2010
Richard Burke Dawn of the Dead behind-the
scenes photo
More than 32 years after the fact, photographer Richard Burke for the first time offers prints of his behind-the scenes photos from the January 1978 Monroeville Mall shoot to the public
2012 - 2015
2012/13 + 2015 Special make-up effects master Greg Nicotero, who of course has learned his trade as an assistant to Tom Savini during the making of George Romero’s third Dead film Day of the Dead in 1984, incorporates a number of references to Dawn of the Dead in three different episodes of the hugely successful AMC television series The Walking Dead directed by himself. Season 3 of the show features short “cameos” by both the Stephen Andrews “Flyboy” zombie (E5) and the airfield plaid shirt “baldhead” zombie (E15), while the March 2015 finale of Season 5 contains an appearance of the “machete zombie”. Further nods to Romero’s work thrown in by Nicotero during other episodes include “Bub” from Day of the Dead, and the “Fluffy” monster crate from Creepshow.
The Walking Dead "Flyboy Zombie"
The Walking Dead "Airport Zombie"
The Walking Dead "Machete Zombie"
July 2013
Dawn of the Dead in 3D
Richard Rubinstein announces a $6 million, “Perfect 3D” conversion of Romero’s original theatrical Dawn of the Dead cut, which apparently has been in the works at a South Korean company named “Stereo Pictures Media” since 2007. As of mid-2015, however, no release in either theatrical form or on home media has materialized.
Early May 2015
Save The Dawn of the Dead Bridge
As part of ongoing renovations, the Monroeville Mall’s small walkover bridge that has remained its final accessible feature seen in the film up to that point, is getting removed.
An online petition initiated by Dawn of the Dead fans Lawrence Devincentz, Kevin Kriess, Mandy Danger and Daz Sargeant of the Living Dead Museum to “save the bridge” eventually results in the item being permanently preserved at the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh.
August 21, 2015
Restoration of the original Dawn of the Dead intercut positive of Dario Argento’s “international” version
Italian producer Michele De Angelis via Facebook announces plans to extensively restore the original intercut positive of Dario Argento’s “international” version for a theatrical re-release on 150 screens in Italy.