‘Zombieland’ Series Gets A Pass At Amazon
The Zombieland series has failed to get a pickup from Amazon after launching last month on the Amazon Originals brand. The company placed the fate of its 14 pilots in the hands of viewers, and reaction to the pilot episode, based on the 2009 film, didn’t get the job done.
Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the writing team behind the film, were shaken up about it on Friday — at least Reese was. In a series of tweets, Reese blamed film fans, stating they “hated it out of existence.”
Of course, we watched it and let’s just say it’s hard to blame Amazon, or fans, for not digging the pilot episode. The cast had a tall order in trying to replace Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin, and Emma Stone. The laughs were conspicuously absent as well.
Still, Reese said he could “never understand the vehement hate the pilot received from die-hard Zombieland fans.”
(And that’s where he dropped his “hated it out of existence” line.)
In Reese’s defense, he was probably just blowing off steam. He followed up with a couple more gracious tweets, and he spent most of Friday morning personally thanking supporters for their well wishes.
Our Zombieland series will not be moving forward on Amazon.Sad for everyone involved.
— Rhett Reese (@RhettReese) May 17, 2013
I’ll never understand the vehement hate the pilot received from die-hard Zombieland fans.You guys successfully hated it out of existence.
— Rhett Reese (@RhettReese) May 17, 2013
Anyway, we did our best, and we’re very proud of our team.
— Rhett Reese (@RhettReese) May 17, 2013
On a positive note for Reese and Wernick, ComingSoon.net reported that they will be allowed to find a new home for their Zombieland series, but considering it wasn’t good enough for Amazon’s rather sparse slate of original programming, it’s hard to imagine they would have luck at a cable channel.
Unfortunately, our chances of seeing the original cast in a sequel to the hit comedy aren’t likely.
What did you think of the pilot for the now defunct Zombieland series — did Amazon make the right call?
