‘Zombieland’ Sequel Is A Step Closer To Happening

A sequel to 2009’s sleeper hit Zombieland is back on track, now that a new writer has been hired to pen Zombieland 2, The Hollywood Reporter is reporting.

Sony has confirmed that writer Dave Callaham will be writing the Zombieland sequel. Rumors are also swirling that original Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer will oversee the script and direct the sequel, but those rumors have not been confirmed as of this post. Callaham’s writing credits include a long list of Hollywood action-movie blockbusters, including Godzilla and The Expendables franchise, according to Screen Crush.

2009’s Zombieland was a sleeper hit starring then-somewhat-unknown Jesse Eisenberg, as well as Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin, and featured an epic cameo by Bill Muray. Originally written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, Zombieland follows four survivors of a zombie apocalypse as they make their way to a theme park in California. Zombieland grossed nearly $100 million and became a cult classic, according to Hollywood News Daily. It scored “Certified Fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 90 percent Critics rating and 86 percent Audience rating.

The proposed Zombieland sequel has gone through several iterations since 2009. Reese and Wernick had been working with Sony on a Zombieland sequel at one point, but “things stalled,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. A pilot for an Amazon streaming Zombieland series was filmed, but Amazon eventually passed; a move that Reese blamed on negative reviews from diehard fans of the original Zombieland.

As of this post, it is unclear if any of the cast of the original Zombieland would be up for a sequel. Stone, Breslin, Harrelson and Eisenberg are much more in-demand actors than they were in 2009, and they may want more money than the Zombieland sequel can afford in its budget, according to Hollywood News Daily.

As Screen Crush points out, though, Abigail Breslin has taken a shine to doing horror films and may be interested in giving Zombieland another go-around. Options for a sequel could include hiring an all-new cast or bringing back one (or more) of the original characters and giving them a new story. There is also no word on whether or not another high-profile celebrity cameo – like Bill Murray’s screen-stealing performance in the original Zombieland – is in the works.

Do you think a Zombieland sequel can live up to the original? Let us know what you think below.

[Image courtesy of: Walhill]