A Bridge between Dawn and Day

[EvilNed]

So lets say a producer comes up to you and wants you to write a script. But it's a very specific script. This producer wants a movie that'll bridge the events between Dawn and Day. Picking up where Dawn ended and ending where Day started. Give or take some freedom with those boundries, of course. How would you do it? What would the story be?

[Morto Vivente]

Possibly as a starting point the first question would be whether Fran and the baby survive, does she lose the baby, or does she die during childbirth leaving Peter to deal with the situation? At least initially.

[Rancid Carcass]

This producer wants a movie that'll bridge the events between Dawn and Day. Er...Land of the Dead! (yeah, I went there!) Actually, I'd probably leave the fate of Fran and Peter unanswered - I don't think we need to know, the ambiguity of it makes it far a more satisfying resolution then anything anyone could write. And that's before we get to the fan backlash! I'd probably follow the bikers. There'd be plenty of fallout over their failed attempt on the mall which I think would lead to the eventual break up of the group. We could track a few members of the group as they strike out on their own, maybe find their way to Washington (perhaps one of them gets bitten, turns and tries to drive a car down Independence Avenue!). In Washington we see the last desperate act of what remains of the American government scrambling to set up research teams to try and find a way to stop the plague. Our bikers could be rescued from a tight spot by Major Cooper and his troops and are conscripted into service and taken to a compound/staging post where they are shipping out the various research teams. Coopers men are among the last to be shipped out and while waiting for the inbound helicopter to fly them out to the Everglades, the compound is breached and desperate struggle for survival ensues – as the chopper lands Cooper realizes they won't all fit in and orders Captain Rhodes to shoot the two bikers. The last thing we see is a horde of zombies devouring the remains of the bikers as the helicopter flies off towards Florida... (and complete and utter safety!!). That's what I'd do. Or something like that.

[MoonSylver]

Er...Land of the Dead! (yeah, I went there!) Actually, I'd probably leave the fate of Fran and Peter unanswered - I don't think we need to know, the ambiguity of it makes it far a more satisfying resolution then anything anyone could write. And that's before we get to the fan backlash! I'd probably follow the bikers. There'd be plenty of fallout over their failed attempt on the mall which I think would lead to the eventual break up of the group. We could track a few members of the group as they strike out on their own, maybe find their way to Washington (perhaps one of them gets bitten, turns and tries to drive a car down Independence Avenue!). In Washington we see the last desperate act of what remains of the American government scrambling to set up research teams to try and find a way to stop the plague. Our bikers could be rescued from a tight spot by Major Cooper and his troops and are conscripted into service and taken to a compound/staging post where they are shipping out the various research teams. Coopers men are among the last to be shipped out and while waiting for the inbound helicopter to fly them out to the Everglades, the compound is breached and desperate struggle for survival ensues – as the chopper lands Cooper realizes they won't all fit in and orders Captain Rhodes to shoot the two bikers. The last thing we see is a horde of zombies devouring the remains of the bikers as the helicopter flies off towards Florida... (and complete and utter safety!!). That's what I'd do. Or something like that. Not bad at all... Something showing the fall of the govt & the rush to set up the shelters, such as the one seen in Day, would be essential.

[Morto Vivente]

Er...Land of the Dead! (yeah, I went there!) Actually, I'd probably leave the fate of Fran and Peter unanswered - I don't think we need to know, the ambiguity of it makes it far a more satisfying resolution then anything anyone could write. And that's before we get to the fan backlash! I'd probably follow the bikers. There'd be plenty of fallout over their failed attempt on the mall which I think would lead to the eventual break up of the group. We could track a few members of the group as they strike out on their own, maybe find their way to Washington. In retrospect leaving the question of Fran and Peter open would be a good idea. I'd still like to see the bikers (following their breakup) driving past a slightly wrecked helicopter, reminding us of their predicament of low fuel etc but still retaining the ambiguity of Fran and Peter's fate.

[facestabber]

I know many of you will come up with some good ideas here. Always root for Fran and Peter to survive but I prefer leaving that story line alone. I would have loved however, if Romero would have had Flyboy's helicopter in Land. Either have the supply team come across it crashed or have it implied that it is Kaufman's ride. If Kaufman had it that could imply Fran and Peter made it to Fiddler's without knowing their fate. Would have been a nice tribute.

[Philly_SWAT]

Of course, much of this bridge story is of course Land. I always wanted to see a whole entire movie about what happens to Peter and Fran. That being said, if it wasnt in the bridge movie it wouldnt bother me. But I also would like to see the story of the biker gang at the mall. It is not ridiculous to think they could have been an earlier version of what Riley and company were. They could have been Kaufman's first raiding party, but their carelessness and lack of discipline led Kaufman to make the unit more military rather than gang in nature. And whatever the whole movie about the bikers was about , then Day would take place a couple of years in the future from there.

[EvilNed]

All good points, especially about Fran and Peters fate being unknown. I think I'd have liked to see much of the events leading up to Day. I like the ideas of following the bikers, but what else could there be? One thought I had was that maybe Fran and Peter managed to make it down south, somehow. Maybe Fran dies in childbirth and Peter cares for the baby. Eventually he finds himself holed up in Fort Meyers, scavenging for food and finding a few other survivors holed up. One of them can even be a soldier on AWOL from the Missile Silo, believed to be a casualty ("We've lost five.") Their two-way radio is broke so they can only receive messages, not transmit. Shortly after Peter's arrival, they pick up McDermott's radio transmission and see the chopper. They decide to make a break for it and reach it, but most of them are engulfed in the zombie onslaught that Miguel unleashes with his bullhorn. Peter and the baby manages to make it to the chopper but sees it fly off, leaving him stranded in the midst of the zombie horde. Roll end credits.

[MagicMoonMonkey]

I am sure I read a story in the fiction section that continued Peter and Fran's story and tied in the recon mission at the beginning of Day of the Dead with John, McDermott & Sarah making an appearance. I am sure the story was billed as a sequel to Dawn of the Dead, so it won't be hard to find. It was ages ago since I read it, so I can't give an accurate opinion of the tale due to time elapsed and my little 100Gb brain's information retention. However, if the bridge were to be gapped I would probably like to see Peter and Fran's helicopter (all sorts of alarms going off) attempt to land at the airport/airbase where several Chinook helicopters carrying a couple of the scientific teams to secure locations, perhaps 2 airlifting the Jetranger helicopters that would service John and his counterpart on the other team; another 2 laden with supplies, but in doing so Fran clips one of the Chinooks carrying the other scientific team sending both helicopters crashing to the ground in a spiralling mass of broken metal. We then see our 'Day' team fly in to the distance as our new main character for this film, probably a government official, damns his missions bad luck and the fool flying the unidentified helicopter. From there, insert a cool story which sees the last of society fall, the power going out in DC and our new protagonist kill himself in despair after some brutal personal losses. Maybe something like Olympus has fallen with zombies. Yeah, have something relating to the story on the front of the newspaper in Day of the Dead. Like the vice president running the show in the absence of the President.

[nycbsn]

Isn't Richard P. Rubenstein working on a direct sequel to the original "Dawn of the Dead"? He announced it along with the upcoming 3D conversion of Dawn '78, which he said is halfway done (as of late July this year). I wonder how that is going to work. I really don't think Fran and Peter will be making a comeback, they're too old. Any ideas?

[sandrock74]

Probably just get new actors for the roles. Think about it, all the rage is reimaginings/reboots nowadays, so why wouldn't they just recast the roles of Peter and Fran? The question you should be asking is who would play them?

[nycbsn]

Probably just get new actors for the roles. Think about it, all the rage is reimaginings/reboots nowadays, so why wouldn't they just recast the roles of Peter and Fran? The question you should be asking is who would play them? That's one thought I had initially but was trying not to think about it because I can't see many actors today (at least not off the top of my head) filling those shoes and not screwing it up. Back in the 90s, before the 'Dawn' remake was ever announced, the thought of such a remake (thinking it would be close to the original in the vein of "Night 90") was something I dreamed of. I had always pictured Samuel L. Jackson in Peter's shoes. This was, of course, in the 90s before he got too big for his own good. Now he's everywhere and I'm not so sure I feel the same about him anymore. If by some chance he plays him in this sequel, I hope to God he doesn't do it with a shaved head like he usually does nowadays (not every film, but most). Assuming the sequel opens just before they run out of fuel and need to initiate an emergency landing, I doubt Peter would have time to shave his head.