Director George A. Romero had found critical and financial success with the first two movies in his series, Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. However, for the third film, Day of the Dead, he wanted to make an epic, as he called it the “Gone with the Wind of zombie films.”
Unfortunately, the budget was halved from its initial $7 million, down to $3.5 million. Romero had already proved there was an audience for these stories, and yet his directing vision was being compromised. He had to get creative to get the film made.
In this official documentary, the cast and crew of the film discuss those creative decisions that were forced onto Romero and how much his original vision had to adapt.
Upon release, the film did not repeat the box office success of its predecessors. Although it did find new life in rentals and is now considered a cult classic.