Editing Day of the Dead (1985 film) (section)

==Production==
===Development===
Romero originally intended the film to be "the ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'' of zombie films".<ref name="FI">{{cite web|url=https://www.homepageofthedead.com/films/day/filming.html|title=Day of the Dead - The Filming|website=Homepage of the Dead|access-date=2008-01-03}}</ref> Following budget disputes and the artistic need to release the film unrated, the budget of the film was cut in half, dropping from $7 million to $3.5 million.<ref name="FI" /> This forced Romero to scale back his story, rewriting the script and adjusting his original vision to fit the smaller budget.

A total of five scripts were written as Romero wrestled with the film's concepts and the budgetary constraints. The first draft was over 200 pages, which he later condensed to a shorter page count. This is the true original script, and to date no copies of it have come to light. This version was likely rejected because UFDC felt it was too expensive for them to produce even with an R rating. Romero subsequently scaled down the scope of this script into a 155-page draft (often erroneously referred to as the original version), then condensed it again to a 104-page draft labeled the "second version, second draft" in an unsuccessful final attempt to get the story within budget parameters. When this failed, he drastically altered the original story concept and ultimately produced a shooting draft that numbered only 88 pages.

The film was given a very limited release.<ref name="FI" /> This is chronicled in the documentary ''The Many Days of 'Day of the Dead{{'}}'' on the two-disc [[Anchor Bay Entertainment|Anchor Bay]] special edition DVD of the film.<ref name="FI" /> Some of the original concepts and characters remain, but the film differs greatly from Romero's original script,<ref>{{cite web|title=DAY OF THE DEAD (The original script) by George A. Romero|url=http://www.horrorlair.com/scripts/dayofthedead.txt|website=HorrorLair.com|access-date=2008-01-05|archive-date=August 18, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080818114327/http://www.horrorlair.com/scripts/dayofthedead.txt|url-status=dead}}</ref> as stated by actress [[Lori Cardille]]:
{{blockquote|He could've made me this sexy little twit bouncing around with a gun:- much more the sexual element. But he made her intelligent and strong. In fact, whenever I would try and make her a little more emotional, he would not allow me to do that.<ref name="FI" />}}

===Casting===
[[Joseph Pilato]] was cast as Rhodes, the film's antagonist. As stated by Pilato "He pretty much just gave it to me. I don't know if he auditioned other people, but it was very quick. I came in and it was like, 'You got it!{{'"}}.<ref name="FITWO" /> Pilato had acted in two prior films directed by Romero, the first being Pilato's debut ''[[Dawn of the Dead (1978 film)|Dawn of the Dead]]'' and the second being ''[[Knightriders]]''; in between those films he played his first lead role in a film entitled ''[[Effects (film)|Effects]]'' (1979).<ref name="FITWO" /> In an interview, Pilato was asked if Romero "had him in mind", Pilato stated that one of the reasons why he got the role was because of the budget being scaled down from 7 to 3.5 million.<ref name="FITWO">{{cite web|date=April 2000|title=Interview with Josef Pilato|url=https://www.homepageofthedead.com/films/day/interviews_1.html|website=Homepage of the Dead|access-date=2008-01-03}}</ref>

The role of Dr. Matthew "Frankenstein" Logan was played by [[Richard Liberty]]. In a 2000 interview, Liberty said that he received a call from [[Christine Forrest]], Romero's then-wife and casting director for ''Day of the Dead'', wherein he was both offered the role and told that George Romero specifically wrote the role for Liberty.<ref>''Day of the Dead'' supplemental features - Audio Interview with Richard Liberty, [[Anchor Bay Entertainment]], August 8, 2003</ref> Liberty had previously worked with Romero on the 1973 film ''[[The Crazies (1973 film)|The Crazies]]''.

Members of the rock band [[NRBQ]] cameo in the film in zombie makeup.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.atomicmusicgroup.com/artists/?view=artpro&aid=MzEx|title=NRBQ Biography | publisher=Atomic Music Group| access-date=2023-02-16}}</ref>

===Filming===
Filming took place in the fall of 1984 at locations in [[Pennsylvania]] and [[Florida]]. All above-ground scenes were filmed at several locations around Florida, where Romero was living at the time. The opening scene was filmed in the downtown area of [[Fort Myers, Florida]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Day of the Dead Locations - Fort Myers, Florida|url=http://www.deadplaces.net/dotdftmyers.htm |website=Dead Places|access-date=2022-12-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028090847/http://www.deadplaces.net/dotdftmyers.htm |archive-date=2009-10-28|url-status=dead}}</ref>