Shakespeare Goes Zombie at the 63rd Annual Edinburgh Film Festival

The Edinburgh Film Festival will host the world premiere of the feature film
Romeo & Juliet vs. The Living Dead on June 26th, 2009 (23:00 at Filmhouse 1);
the independently made romantic comedy precedes a number of horror/classic
literature mash-ups being developed this year

NEW YORK, June 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Among the twenty-three world premieres to be
unveiled at the 63rd Annual Edinburgh Film Festival, there is one title that
can not help but to catch the eye: Romeo & Juliet vs. The Living Dead. The
low-budget independent film aims to be the word-of-mouth hit at Edinburgh that
Colin, the famed $70 zombie film, was at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Romeo & Juliet vs. The Living Dead appears to be the first in a wave of
horror/classic literature mash-ups. Recently, development has begun on films
such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and, another Austen parody, Pride and
Predator. The latter is produced by Elton John's Rocket Pictures.

The Shakespeare parody is the debut film by director Ryan Denmark, who has
worked for the last six years as Spike Lee's associate editor on films such as
Inside Man and Miracle at St. Anna. Produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico,
Denmark's take on this tale of star-crossed lovers both embraces and reinvents
Shakespeare's classic text.

"The idea for the film is Juliet, of noble Capulet birth, falls in love with
Romeo, a zombie and hilarity ensues. That only goes so far," says Denmark. "We
needed more or it was going to be a one gag show. For me R&J is a parable
about how hatred consumes everything around it. However, it has also spawned a
worship of hysterical juvenile love. For that reason, the play has a lot in
common with 80's teen romance films. So when we approached the script we were
influenced by films like Valley Girl and Pretty in Pink. We expanded the
character of Mercutio to create a love triangle and away we went. Everything
flowed from there, including our answer to the problematic question everyone
asks, if Romeo is already dead, how does he kill himself? The film is a
romantic comedy, but you know, with zombies."

With this in mind, Denmark has aimed the film for a wide audience, "We want to
be the perfect date movie. That's not to say a chick-flick. This is the film a
zombie lover can drag their significant other to and everyone will walk away
happy."

Romeo & Juliet vs. The Living Dead will premiere at the Edinburgh Film
Festival on June 26th, 2009. It plays at 23:00 at Filmhouse 1. Director/writer
Ryan Denmark will be in attendance along with writer Jason Witter, who also
portrays the undead Romeo.

Produced by Third Star Films, a trailer can be found on the website
http://www.thirdstarfilms.com along with a downloadable press kit.

For additional information, contact:

Ryan Denmark
Third Star Films
347-731-2772
ryan(at)thirdstarfilms.com

This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information, visit
http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Third Star Films

Ryan Denmark of Third Star Films, +1-347-731-2772, ryan(at)thirdstarfilms.com