Zombieland Sequel Still In Active Development
It's been nearly eight years since Zombieland munched its way into theaters, but, according to the movie's screenwriters, a sequel is still in active development. Co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick told ComicBook.com that they are currently trying to move the sequel closer to production, with the original movie's director Ruben Fleischer on board. However, the original film's stars, which include Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, and Abigail Breslin, are a little harder to nail down.
"It's just a matter of making our cast deals and making it for a budget number," said Wernick. "All the cast have become superstars now so, we made Zombieland with $20 million, so it's trying to fit that financial model into the sequel model so it makes sense for the studio and being able to pay the actors what they now get paid and deserve to paid."
Wernick's comments are understandable. When Zombieland came out in 2009, Harrelson was by far the biggest name attached, while Eisenberg, Stone, and Breslin were all up-and-comers. Now, though, Eisenberg is DC's Lex Luthor and has an Oscar nomination to his name for The Social Network; Stone is one of the biggest A-list names in Hollywood and a recent Oscar winner for La La Land; and Breslin, who was already an Oscar nominee for Little Miss Sunshine when she did Zombieland, has successfully completed the transition from child to adult actor and has become a TV star in properties like Scream Queens and ABC's upcoming Dirty Dancing remake. Harrelson's star power has also been on the rise due to movies like The Hunger Games franchise, Now You See Me, and the upcoming young Han Solo anthology movie, making him hard to sign as well.
However, Reese and Wernick previously told CinemaBlend that the cast was all very excited about the potential for a sequel, and it looks like they aren't ready to give up on Zombieland 2 just yet. The pair, who are currently working on the script for Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool 2, say that they are constantly pestering Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman to make the sequel happen. "We're not letting it go," Reese said. "We really want to see Zombieland 2."
Hopefully, Reese and Wernick will be able to find a way to make room in the cast's busy schedules for a sequel to the action heavy zombie comedy. In the meantime, though, see all of the other sequels, like Zombieland 2, that you didn't know were being worked on.