http://io9.com/5976583/the-zombieland-tv-show-is-going-into-productionRuben Fleischer Offers ZOMBIELAND 2 Update; Says There Are No Immediate Plans for the Film and Teases Storyline
by Adam Chitwood Posted: January 9th, 2013 at 1:58 pm
Zombies have invaded the zeitgeist like not much else over the past few years, but undoubtedly one of the best things to come out of this so-called “zombie craze” is director Ruben Fleischer’s 2009 comedy Zombieland. Boosted by an incredibly strong cast, a whip-smart and funny script, excitingly refreshing visuals from Flesicher, and one of the best cameos in recent memory, the pic grossed over $100 million against a budget of just $23 million. Shortly after its release, talk turned to a sequel, but development on the follow-up has slowed considerably over the past couple of years.
Fleischer is poised to make his big budget debut with the crime drama Gangster Squad, opening this coming Friday, and Steve recently sat down with the filmmaker for an exclusive interview. During the course of their conversation, Fleischer offered an update on Zombieland 2, revealing that there are no immediate plans for the sequel and development stalled because they didn’t have a script that everyone was happy with. Furthermore, Fleischer teased the storyline that they had come up with for the follow-up. Hit the jump to see what he had to say.
Since comments from Fleischer and the cast in recent months have been increasingly pessimistic about the prospects of Zombieland 2 coming to fruition, Steve asked Fleischer if we could finally close the door on the follow-up:“I hate to do it, but I can say that there’s no immediate plans to make the movie. There’s no script, really, so the likelihood of it happening is slim. But I would not wanna put a nail in that coffin.”When asked if the studio might be more inclined to get the sequel going now that AMC’s The Walking Dead is breaking ratings records left and right, Fleischer revealed that it’s not the studio that’s been stalling the film’s development:
“Well I think that the studio would be very excited to make it. It’s not that the studio is not excited, it’s that we took one shot at the script [and] it wasn’t something we all got excited to do. And just on a personal level, I was really excited to, having made one movie, to make different movies, not just go back into that world again. But now that I have some distance and I’ve done some other stuff, I would be more inclined to go back to Zombieland I guess you could say. But at the time when the talk of the sequel was really—when it felt like it was possible—I was really kind of shying away from it just because I’ve only made one movie, I wanna make different movies with different people and learn different things, and so I was a little hesitant to just jump right back into the same thing.”Finally, Fleischer offered up a small tease of what the plot for Zombieland 2 entailed in that first script:
“Needless to say it was a continuation of the original story with the same characters. I guess the only thing I could really say is that the threat to our heroes wasn’t only zombies, like they encounter other people that they’re all jockeying for positions.”Watch the portion of the interview concerning the Zombieland sequel below followed by a full transcript, and look for Steve’s full interview with Fleischer soon.
Collider: Can we finally close the door on Zombieland 2?
Fleischer: I hate to do it, but I can say that there’s no immediate plans to make the movie. There’s no script, really, so the likelihood of it happening is slim. But I would not wanna put a nail in that coffin.
Do you sort of feel a little bit that you were a bit ahead of the curve of The Walking Dead in terms of being in the pop culture, if you will?
Fleischer: Well zombies are immortal, they’ve been around a long time, long before Zombieland, I mean [there was] Shaun of the Dead. There’s always more. I think our timing was great for Zombieland, it was clear that it connected with an audience at the time it came out, and so it’s cool that people are still excited about the genre.
Do you think the studio, with the success of The Walking Dead, is more inclined to say, “Hey, we have a property that worked, maybe we should really be doing something with this?”
Fleischer: Well I think that the studio would be very excited to make it. It’s not that the studio is not excited, it’s that we took one shot at the script [and] it wasn’t something we all got excited to do. And just on a personal level, I was really excited to, having made one movie, to make different movies, not just go back into that world again. But now that I have some distance and I’ve done some other stuff, I would be more inclined to go back to Zombieland I guess you could say. But at the time when the talk of the sequel was really—when it felt like it was possible—I was really kind of shying away from it just because like I’ve only made one movie, I wanna make different movies with different people and learn different things, and so I was a little hesitant to just jump right back into the same thing.
Do you mind revealing like a one-liner of the tentative script that you had?
Fleischer: Well needless to say it was a continuation of the original story with the same characters. I guess the only thing I could really say is that the threat to our heroes wasn’t only zombies, like they encounter other people that they’re all jockeying for positions.
Jan 16, 2013 3:40 PM
First Hints About How Zombieland Will Become a Weekly TV Show
Charlie Jane Anders
Zombieland was one of the freshest horror comedies of the past decade — and there were reports in late 2011 that it was going to become a TV show for CBS. Now, it looks like the Zombieland TV show is actually a real thing, because casting calls just went out yesterday for the show's main characters.
Spoilers ahead...
We got hold of some script pages that are being used for casting purposes — which may or may not be indicative of what the actual pilot will end up being like, since a lot will change between now and then. But they definitely give us a sense of how the TV show will reinvent the main characters and their backstory a bit. There are casting calls for the four major characters from the film (Tallahassee, Columbus, Wichita and Little Rock) plus a couple minor characters.
Here's how the characters would be portrayed somewhat differently on TV:
Tallahassee is still kind of a snarky weirdo, but he seems to have a much less spiky relationship with Columbus. He and Columbus have a pretty amusing thing where they riff on the fact that Steven Seagal movies always have three-word titles like "Marked for Justice" or "May Cause Diarrhea." But Tallahassee also dispenses homespun wisdom about how to feel happy with your life. He also tells a weird story about being in a trailer park with a perpetually nude Matthew McConaughey. He also has a somewhat heartwarming scene where he tells Columbus that he's been wandering aimlessly for a long time, but maybe he's been put here for a reason — to help Columbus and the others.
Columbus is much the same, except that he tracks down his grandma and grandpa (Bubbie and Peepaw) only to find them recently zombiefied. Also, Columbus is trying to deal with his newfound relationship with Wichita, after their first kiss. He has started calling her "Krista," her real name — but there are some problems, especially after she finds him reading a book about fatherhood. He tries to organize a romantic scavenger hunt for her in the IKEA they're camping out in, but it goes kind of horribly.
Wichita is still trying to look after Little Rock, trying to teach her math with problems about someone stealing from a liquor store and jumping on a train going 42 miles per hour, with a cop chasing in a car going 88 miles per hour. We also learn a lot more about Wichita's backstory, including how she ran away from her father after he had her stealing people's Christmas presents — and later, she found out she had a sister who was also being a grifter with her dad.
Little Rock seems actually kind of excited about meeting Columbus' grandparents, before they turn out to be zombies. And she shares some of her own backstory, about how her dad parked her at a school while he went off grifting on his own — and then yanked her out of school right before a dance that she was looking forward to.
Fred and Ainsley are two office workers at the start of the zombie apocalypse, obliviously complaining about problems with their iPhones and getting the wrong order at Starbucks, which they admit are "first world problems" with a hashtag — while people are being disembowled just outside the window they're not facing. Tallahassee shows up to bring them their lunch orders, wearing a green polo shirt.
All in all, it's very much in keeping with the style of humor of the film — and more importantly, the characters feel much the same. And at the same time, it sounds as though moving the romance between Columbus and Wichita forward will be a major focus of the TV show, and the relationships among the four main characters will probably become a bit sweeter and more like a family as the show goes on. But as a half-hour comedy about zombies, it looks quite promising.
Zombieland 2′ Back on Fast Track With New Writer
Posted on Tuesday, September 30th, 2014 by Germain Lussier
Much like the characters implied by the title, Zombieland 2 keeps coming back to life. The original writers, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, have been thinking about a sequel for years and eventually spun some of those ideas into a Amazon TV pilot. The show was not picked up, and most thought that was the end. Like a good zombie, however, the feature version of Zombieland 2 is now rising from the grave.
A new report says Sony Pictures has hired Dave Callaham, writer of the first two Expendables movies, to pen a sequel with Ruben Fleischer expected to return and direct.
Deadline broke the Zombieland 2 news.
The original Zombieland opened in 2009 and was a surprise hit, grossing over $100 million worldwide. There were immediately talks about the sequel and there was even a script as early as 2010.
At that time, there were reports that Jesse Eisenberg was already on board the project, which was looking for a new comedic villain and a rival to Woody Harrelsons Tallahassee. They were also hoping to populate the film with cameos like the Bill Murray one in the original film. Again though, that was when Reese and Wernick were still writing. The new writer suggests anything we knew before could be wiped clean.
The Deadline report says Fleischer will be overseeing Callahams script and is expected to direct but hasnt signed anything yet. The same is said for all of the stars, many of which have since become much more bankable a definite reason why this film is now seeing a resurgence. While the studio would obviously want as many of them back as possible, nothing set in stone outside of Callaham. If his script comes in and does the job, things could be moving very quickly. Fleischer has a few things on the horizon, but nothing happening imminently (as evidence by his inclusion in the Ant-Man discussions earlier this year).
Do you think people still want to see Zombieland 2?
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