Horror legend George Romero was originally set to direct the first movie adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary, but here’s why he bowed out. While Romero is an immensely respected figure in horror history, it’s a bit sad that he never truly got the respect from Hollywood that he deserved. With Night of the Living Dead, Romero invented the type of zombie fans know and love today, a shambling, decaying corpse on the hunt for human flesh.
With Night, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead, Romero crafted arguably the greatest zombie films ever, and outside of the undead, Romero directed classics like Creepshow, and cult hits like The Crazies and Martin. Romero always had loyal fans, but what he didn’t have was the patience to deal with studios. Just about every time Romero agreed to work with a studio, he ended up with a good payday, but was forced to cede true creative control to executives. That inability to work within the system led to Romero spending much of his career as an outsider, unable to get big money backing for his often ambitious projects.
Romero, at various points, was attached to multiple likely blockbusters, only to either quit or be fired over creative differences. Some examples include the Resident Evil movie, The Stand, IT, and a project for Marvel called Copperhead. Romero also came close to directing Pet Sematary, but as usual, things fell apart.
Why George Romero Didn’t Direct Stephen King’s Pet Sematary
After Stephen King’s Pet Sematary novel was published in 1983, and became a hit, the author immediately began fielding adaptation offers. He rejected several before making a deal in 1984 with his good friend and frequent collaborator George Romero to direct a Pet Sematary movie. King had two conditions for the transaction: he be allowed to write the script, and the film had to shoot in his home state of Maine. Unfortunately, as weird as this sounds now, studios weren’t interested in making Pet Sematary, feeling that interest in King adaptations had waned after an onslaught of them in the early 1980s. Still, Romero remained attached, hoping to direct.
That was until the 1988 writers’ strike. With no new scripts being written, studios scrambled to dig up finished screenplays they had passed on previously, and King’s Pet Sematary script now looked quite attractive. Paramount acquired the rights to adapt the book, and King still intended Romero would direct, but unfortunately, circumstances got in the way. Romero had recently finished filming on Monkey Shines for Orion Pictures, but the studio was demanding he come back and do reshoots, changing the ending. Obligated to do so, Romero was unavailable to direct Pet Sematary. Mary Lambert was hired, after impressing King, and the rest is history.
