Tomas Matos to Star in Tina Romero’s Horror Comedy “Queens of the Dead”

Tomas Matos will be royally horrified

The 26-year-old Latinx artist and social justice advocate will star in Queens of the Dead, a new horror comedy directed by Tina Romero, the daughter of legendary director George A. Romero.

Tomas MatosMatos will star alongside Katy O’BrianMargaret ChoBrigette Lundy-Paine, Cheyenne Jackson, Nina West, Jaquel Spivey, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Becca Blackwell, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Dominique Jackson, Riki Lindhome and Eve Lindley in the film.

Co-written by Erin Judge and Tina Romero, the film pays tribute to the zombies from the elder Romero’s classic zombie films with a fresh, contemporary and queer twist, promising to offer a genre-smashing, glam-gore thrill ride through the zombie apocalypse.

From Vanishing Angle, the film follows an eclectic group of drag queens, club kids, and frenemies who must put aside their personal dramas and use their unique skills to combat the brain-thirsty undead when a zombie apocalypse breaks out during their drag show in Brooklyn.

George A. Romero, often referred to as the “Godfather of Zombies,” revolutionized the horror genre with his groundbreaking films Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, with his work influencing countless filmmakers and becoming a cornerstone of modern horror.

Following George’s 2017 passing, Tina Romero looks to carry the torch with a talent-rich film loaded with practical effects, jump scares, laughs, and lumbering zombies amassing on the streets of Brooklyn. Given its focus on the historically disenfranchised LGBTQ+ population, the film should fit in naturally with George A. Romero’s oeuvre, which used a zombie apocalypse to examine social injustice, among many other themes.

“This is the cast of my wildest dreams. In a movie about survival, you gotta love and root for the survival crew,” said Romero in a statement about the project. “Every single person in this ensemble brings such a special and specific flavor -both on and off screen. The result is truly a magic sauce.”

Matos’ previous credits include Fire Island and Fantasmas.

First Trailer Released for “Twisters,” Starring Antony Ramos

Antony Ramos is getting things twisted

The first trailer for Universal‘s Twisters, starring the 32-year-old Puerto Rican actor/singer, has been released.

Twisters, Antony RamosGlen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Ramos star in the new chapter to the 1996 box office hit. Lee Isaac Chung directs the film from a script by Mark L. Smith. The film is co-financed by Warner Bros.

The supporting cast includes Kiernan Shipka, David Corenswet, Daryl McCormack, Sasha Lane, Maura Tierney and Katy O’Brian.

Starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, the original Twister was a massive hit in 1996, scoring almost $500M at the worldwide box office, due in no small part to the film’s groundbreaking special effects.

The film followed a pair of storm chasers who risk their lives in an attempt to test an experimental weather alert system. The film was helmed by Speed director Jan De Bont and executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay by author Michael Crichton.

Plot details have been kept under wraps on the big-budget sequel, which began filming around Oklahoma City in May 2023. Filming was suspended in July due to the SAG-AFTRA strike but production resumed in November 2023, wrapping the following month.

The film is scheduled to be released in the U.S. by Universal and internationally by Warner Bros in July 2024.