African movie pirates have managed to leak the Hollywood standard West African-set Zombie feature film, ‘The Dead’, written and directed by Howard J. Ford and Jon Ford, which featured Ghanaian actor Prince David Osei, before it entered Ghana.
The film was on Friday screened for the first time in Africa at the Silverbird Cinema in Accra. But before the première, the film had reportedly found its way onto the laptops of some movie fans and had as such collapsed the enthusiasm with which people wanted to see the movie.
NEWS-ONE is still investigating how the film was leaked as it was readily not clear if the leakage was from Ghana or not. However, it is gradually becoming a norm in Ghana’s movie industry for unreleased movies to be leaked before they hit the cinemas.
Director Leila Djansi once complained bitterly about how ‘Sinking Sands’ was leaked. Shirley Frimpong Manso also complained that ‘Adams Apples’ was leaked and she pointed fingers at the Censorship Board but it denied being involved.
NEWS-ONE is aware ‘The Dead’, which featured Prince David Osei and veteran actor David Dontoh, was released for a number of cinemas across the world, especially in the United State. That was heralded by a huge premiere in Los Angeles last month.
It is yet to be confirmed if its copies on DVDs have been released onto the US market or any other market. The film is a good one and there are hopes it will open a new chapter in Prince David Osei’s acting career. It is a hardcore Zombie film with good effects and suspense and has a very touching story told with a good cast, good sound quality, good setting and pictures.
‘The Dead’, shot in life-threatening regions of Burkina Faso and Ghana, takes audiences on a horrifying road-trip through a zombie-dominated terrain. An American mercenary, the sole survivor of a violent plane crash, maneuvers through the hostile, arid landscape while battling against the newly-risen living dead. Almost losing all hope, he encounters an African soldier desperately searching for his son amongst the chaos.
The mercenary and the soldier rise up together to forge their way through the unstoppable assault of the ever-hungry undead and into an uncertain future.Along with its overseas theatrical run, ‘The Dead’ has been a festival favorite since its debut last year, garnering rave reviews from horror fans and mainstream media alike.
The Ghana premiere on Friday attracted a number of movie stars. Among them were Adjetey Anang, Luckie Lawson, James Gardner, Nikki Samonas, Kobi Rana, Prince David Osei and David Dontoh. Producer Abdul Salam and directors Frank Rajah and Pascal Amanfo were also there.