Official Press Release

San Diego, CA, January 28, 2004. The premiere zombie movie of all time is now a comic book reality. George A. Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead will soon be stalking comic shops everywhere.

IDW Publishing, known for their innovative approach to horror comics, will publish the zombie-infested Dawn Of The Dead this April with modern day horror master Steve Niles as the writer. Niles is the writer and creator of the mega-hit 30 Days Of Night. Niles will be leading this zombie attack with Wake The Dead artist Chee at his side.

The license to adapt the 1979 horror classic into a comic book miniseries was granted to IDW Publishing by an affiliate of New Amsterdam Entertainment Inc., whose CEO, Richard P. Rubinstein, was the producer of the original feature. Michael Messina, New Amsterdam VP, said, “After reading a long piece about Steve [Niles] in Fango, we were convinced that he had to adapt Dawn. So, I was pretty pumped when I approached him because to me it was a no-brainer! Steve thought about it for like two seconds… He then put me in touch with Ted Adams at IDW, who also took no time at all to say they were in. Now with Chee on board, the final piece is in place and we couldn’t be happier. The fans are going to love this.”

“Dawn of the Dead is one of the most, if not the most important film of my childhood,” says Niles. “It was the first movie I waited and waited to come out. I read every update and I’ll never forget the picture of the exploding head in Fangoria #1. It is nothing short of an honor to now, all these years later, adapt it into a comic and maybe expose this horror classic to a whole new audience.”

Readers will never approach a mall in the same way after they read this classic adaptation of Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead, the follow up to his famous Night Of The Living Dead. Although the original Dawn of the Dead was released in the 1970s, it remains a favorite of horror fans around the world.

Anchor Bay Entertainment will release a new DVD of the classic fright film around three weeks ahead of the comic book release, and IDW has arranged to have a link from the DVD to IDW’s website, where a preview of the comic will be available. Anchor Bay Entertainment will include the Comic Shop Locator Service phone number on the DVD as well.

IDW Editor-in-Chief Jeff Mariotte said, “You can’t look at IDW’s publishing line and not realize that we love horror. When it comes to horror films, George Romero’s is one of those names that stands at the forefront, and we’re thrilled to be adapting his work, especially with horror maestro Steve Niles at the helm. Getting the Comic Shop Locator Service number on the Dawn of the Dead DVD should help retailers take advantage of the huge audience that will be looking for this adaptation.”

George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead is a full color, 32-page comic book miniseries, debuting in April 2004, with a retail price of $3.99.

IDW PUBLISHING is a division of Idea + Design Works, LLC, a revolutionary creative service company with a wide range of clients including The Upper Deck Company, Electronic Arts, Ultima Online, WizKids, Cartoon Network, Sony Online Entertainment, Nickelodeon, and many more. IDW Publishing focuses on a small number of high-quality titles. Among them are CBS’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith’s 30 Days of Night and its sequel, Dark Days; Ashley Wood’s Lore; CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations; Beau Smith’s Wynonna Earp; and Steve Niles’ Wake The Dead. Columbia Pictures has optioned the movie rights to 30 Days of Night, with Sam Raimi attached to produce. Konami is producing a video game based on CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations. Dimension Films has optioned the movie rights to Wake The Dead and Hyde.

New Amsterdam Entertainment is a New York City based developer and producer of feature films and longform television programming. The company’s most recent production (in association with Strike Entertainment) “Dawn of the Dead” (2004) stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, and Mekhi Phifer in a reinterpretation of Romero’s classic and is scheduled for theatrical release by Universal Studios in March (www.dawnofthedeadmovie.net). The company’s recent credits include the two hit Emmy winning 6-hr miniseries “Frank Herbert’s Dune” (2000) and “Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune” (2003) with William Hurt and Susan Sarandon leading ensemble casts respectively. The company is currently developing the feature films “Keller” based on the Lawrence Block novel Hit Man with Jeff Bridges attached to star and “Stephen King’s The Night Flier II: Fear of Flying” with Night Flier writer/director Mark Pavia.

Official Press Release

San Diego, CA, January 27, 2004. IDW Publishing is collecting the Dark Days miniseries by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith into a trade paperback compilation.

Dark Days is the sequel to the breakout hit of 2003, 30 Days Of Night. The 30 Days of Night trade paperback was Diamond Comic Distributors’ #4 bestselling book of 2003. The full six-issue Dark Days series is collected here with an exclusive introduction by screenwriter Eric Red (Hitcher, Near Dark). It will be have the same high quality production values that readers have come to expect from IDW Publishing.

“I can’t wait to see Dark Days collected,” says Niles. “IDW always does a beautiful job, Ben’s art is nothing short of spectacular and I had a blast writing it. Stella Olemaun is rapidly becoming one of my favorite reluctant heroes to write. I hope the fans agree.”

Dark Days is a full color, 144-page trade paperback with a retail price of $19.99.

IDW PUBLISHING is a division of Idea + Design Works, LLC, a revolutionary creative service company with a wide range of clients including The Upper Deck Company, Electronic Arts, Ultima Online, WizKids, Cartoon Network, Sony Online Entertainment, Nickelodeon, and many more. IDW Publishing focuses on a small number of high-quality titles. Among them are CBS’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith’s 30 Days of Night and its sequel, Dark Days; Ashley Wood’s Lore; CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations; Beau Smith’s Wynonna Earp; and Steve Niles’ Wake The Dead. Columbia Pictures has optioned the movie rights to 30 Days of Night, with Sam Raimi attached to produce. Konami is producing a video game based on CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations. Dimension Films has optioned the movie rights to Wake The Dead and Hyde.