Paramount to Celebrate Dia de los Muertos

Paramount is bringing the Day of the Dead to life. TV screenwriter Diego Gutierrez will write a horror screenplay for MTV Films based around the Mexican Day of the Dead festivities. The cast hasn't been announced, but is described as "multicultural". It will be Gutierrez' first feature film. His previous television credits include work on "Dawson's Creek," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel" and "Kingpin."

The Day of the Dead celebrations actually take place on two days - November 1 (All Saints Day) and November 2 (All Souls Day). This celebration was started by Latin American indigenous people over 3,000 years ago, and has survived attempts by the colonizing Spanish to eradicate what they felt was a barbaric custom. The Spaniards couldn't kill the holiday, but they did merge their Catholicism into the day.

The Dia de los Muertos is a celebration of the dead and of death, which native peoples saw as a continuation of life. Aztec warriors kept the skulls of their enemies - meant to symbolize death and rebirth - which they displayed during the festivities. Nowadays, the holiday celebration varies from locale to locale. In rural Mexico, people celebrate the day by visiting the graves of deceased loved ones with marigolds and candles. In the US, many Latin Americans celebrate with events and food, including cakes shaped like skulls.

Source: Variety