The son of George A Romero – aka the father of zombie movies – has confirmed he's making a prequel to his dad's 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead.

Cameron Romero has been working on the project since 2014, when he raised $30,000 towards costs via a crowdfunding campaign, and has now confirmed that the prequel is moving into the next stages, with a title change from Origins to Rise of the Living Dead.

Romero confirmed the news on his Facebook page, saying this was the "coolest announcement" he's ever made.

"It is with absolute great joy that I would like to present to you all very late this Halloween night, the announcement for this project's official title," he wrote. "It is my absolute promise to you all that this film will be everything it needs to be... it will be unapologetic... it will be the... [Rise of the Living Dead]."

this image is not availablepinterest
Bear Grylls//Digital Spy

Before making the announcement, Romero called the project a "love letter" to his dad, who passed away earlier this year at the age of 77.

"Many of you know that I have been working to tell a story for many years," he said. "My dad read the script and called it 'genius'.

"Many have approached me about making this film and I've said no to many because even though I'm not a 'precious' artist, this one is special... this one is mine... this one... is my love letter to my dad... to his work... to the fact that he was once called the most dangerous filmmaker alive... to the fact that society in 1968 wanted to shut him up as much as they wanted to celebrate him..."

this image is not availablepinterest
Bear Grylls//Digital Spy

Romero confirmed that Shane Hurlbut and The Rage and Buried Alive director Robert Kurtzman are also on board to help him make the project, which is set to explain how the 'original' Romero zombie was created.

Rise of the Living Dead will take place in the early 1960s and follows scientist Dr Ryan Cartwright as he's tasked to find a way to sustain human life in the event of a nuclear holocaust.

Over the course of the next several years of his life, Cartwright takes a well-funded and military-focused journey to the darkest corners of the world… as he creates the ultimate weapon for the government and a curse that will plague mankind for the rest of its days.

We can expect more updates to come from Cameron Romero himself over the next few months, but we're already hoping that it's not too long before Rise of the Living Dead gets the release it deserves.

From: Digital Spy