By MICHAEL GINGOLD

The star of RESIDENT EVIL will be back killing more zombies next year.

Deadline reports that Milla Jovovich and Betty Gabriel have taken the leads of TWILIGHT OF THE DEAD, based on a treatment co-written by George A. Romero before his death in 2017. There’s something either appropriate or ironic about Jovovich’s casting in this Romero-once-removed project, since he was originally supposed to helm the first RESIDENT EVIL movie, which she wound up starring in and then toplined several sequels. Gabriel has starred in numerous genre films in recent years, including GET OUT, THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR, UPGRADE and last year’s IT LIVES INSIDE. TWILIGHT will be directed by Brad Anderson (SESSION 9, THE MACHINIST, THE CALL) from a script by Joe Knetter, Paolo Zelati (who wrote the treatment with Romero) and Robert Lucas, with Greg Nicotero and KNB EFX group handling the makeup effects. The George A. Romero Foundation and Roundtable Entertainment are producing the film, which is set on a tropical island and will “delve into the dark nature of humanity from the perspective of the last humans on earth who are caught between factions of the undead.” It’s current scheduled to roll next March.

“I see this film in the same way as successful postapocalyptic thrillers such as I AM LEGEND, A QUIET PLACE, THE ROAD and THE LAST OF US–genre stories that are as emotional as they are intense,” Anderson tells the site. “When I first read TWILIGHT OF THE DEAD I teared up at the end. Which is weird for a film of this type. But it has that kind of pull, that combo of horror and heartbreak that I love.”

“It is with great pleasure to work with my partners at Roundtable to finally get the last of George A. Romero’s DEAD canon out to the fans,” says Suzanne Desrocher-Romero, the late Romero’s wife and founder of the Romero Foundation. “It’s what the fans have longed for, and with Brad Anderson at the helm it will be sensational!”

“We’re thrilled to share Milla Jovovich’s return to the zombie genre in this fresh and original way with TWILIGHT OF THE DEAD,” says Roundtable’s Sarah Donnelly. “With Brad’s masterful, visionary direction and Milla’s unique ability to command the screen as a bona fide action star with emotional depth and resiliency, there’s no doubt this film will be a riveting, compelling standout in the genre.”