Two years ago this month, horror comedy Zombieland burst into movie theaters and instantly became one of 2009's biggest sleeper hits, eventually taking in more than $100 million at the worldwide box office. There was instantly talk of a sequel that might even be filmed in 3-D, but so far, Columbia Pictures has yet to greenlight a follow-up (even with The Walking Dead continuing to demonstrate Americans' love for all things gross and deceased). Now, Vulture hears the sequel might actually not happen at all, but for a reason that might make fans happy: A half-hour TV version of Zombieland is in the works with original writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick onboard. Specifically, we hear talks are well under way with Fox Broadcasting and Columbia's sister unit, Sony Pictures Television, to put the zom-com into development for the 2012-13 season. If it happens, it will actually be sort of fitting.
As Zombieland producer (and new Vulture columnist) Gavin Polone noted when we called him up to confirm this news, "The original plan for this was to make it as a TV show." Indeed, CBS actually ordered a pilot script for the concept all the way back in 2005, "but they did what networks do, which is to take all the good stuff out." CBS ultimately passed and Syfy was interested, but couldn't make things work financially, Polone says. Ultimately this was good news, of course, since the movie was a blockbuster and helped further the careers of stars Jesse Eisenberg and Emma Stone, as well as director Ruben Fleischer (now helming the Ryan Gosling/Sean Penn drama Gangster Squad). There was serious work on a film sequel, but Polone says that's now likely on hold: "If the TV show goes, then the sequel won't happen."
One good reason to think a series version of Zombieland could be killer is the fact that the writers have been working on story ideas for a show for years now. As Reese told MTV News last year, "We always thought [it should be a TV series]. If you watch the movie with that in mind, you will see some remnants of the television show. We have the 'Zombie Kill of the Week,' which was always intended to happen every week. The movie ends on a cliffhanger; it doesn't have a real resolution." Polone says the main leads, obviously, won't be part of the series. But maybe since the project is headed to Fox, Zooey Deschanel could do a cameo as a zombie Jess?
By: Josef Adalian
Source: Vulture
The movie was a lot of fun and has potential to be a decent series if FOX does not lean to heavily on the censor button....
ReplyDeleteWell, and assuming they can fidn a cast as good as the movie's - No small order.
Hmmm, censoring is a good point. I actually don't think a good zombie show can be on one of the big networks.
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
ReplyDeleteI can see premium cable easily and basic cable maybe....
In the end it may be better off going with a sequel movie anyway......
yep. and of course FOX will do!
ReplyDeleteDarqueMode I actually don't think a good zombie show can be on one of the big networks.
-> The Walking Dead. If this show would have happened on FOX ... we we would have never seen such amazing zombies or kills the way we do now. FOX would run the show in the main-slots, so everything have to be sth. like a "Family-Series". -> Terra Nova.
Two words : Death Valley. it's a mockumentary about a camera crew following the cops of the UTF (Undead Task Force) in a world where zombies and weird creatures have arisen. It airs since August 30 on Mondays at 10:30pm on MTV, and it's surprisingly pretty good, gore and fun. Episode 7 aired last night.
ReplyDeleteZombies are not like vampires who can now sparkle, be super sexy and all, PG style. Zombies have to have guts dripping from their mouth, wanting to eat everything they come across, they have to look disgusting, you cannot change that. So it'll never get done on a big network or it'll get done poorly.
I enjoyed Zombieland a lot, so instead I hope they make a sequel with the same cast (the cast was a big part of why the movie was so great, if they turn it in a TV show I doubt Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Abigail Breslin and Emma Stone would star).
Agreed on the cast. I think Woody might do a sequel.... Eisenberg would be missed, but I'm not sure I'd miss either girl too much. They were great, but I can see new plots and girls replacing them easily enough.
ReplyDeleteAck!
ReplyDeleteImagine FOX making a family zombie sries...
Ok, a zombi-fied version of Terra Nova sounds even worse than Terra Nova and that's saying something!
Death Valley? I was excited about the premise (and Raymonde was another plus for me), but had to stop watching after the second episode, because I hated it a lot.
ReplyDeleteI could be wrong but i just do not see it happening as a series on Fox,even if they use the 10p.m. time
ReplyDeleteslot.
No! The movie was perfect. Don't do this! Make a sequel instead.
ReplyDeleteYESSS
ReplyDeleteI can't see this on Fox, maybe on FX since Fox owns that network, and they can stretch a little bit (ie. The League)..... It seems like a tough task to approach how good the film was on a 22 minute tv show each week.
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