Next year is not only the tenth anniversary of the comedy hitZombieland, but also the tenth anniversary of talking aboutZombieland 2. A sequel to directorRuben Fleischer’s smash hit has been in development ever since that first movie hit theaters, but despite some close calls, it has thus far not gotten off the ground. However, according to writersRhett ReeseandPaul Wernick, that may be about to change.
Reese and Wernick gained new notoriety a few years ago when another long-in-the-works script of theirs,Deadpool, finally got made and pulled in a ton of money at the box office. They returned to writeDeadpool 2, and speaking withVultureon the eve of the R-rated superhero sequel’s release, Wernick revealed thatZombieland 2may finally hit theaters next year—with the original cast intact:
“We’re going on the tenth anniversary ofZombieland.Zombielandcame out October of 2009. We don’t know what you get someone for their tenth anniversary, but it may be aZombieland 2. The hope is that we’re shooting that thing early 2019 for an October of ’19 release, with the original cast, by the way.”
ZombielandstarredWoody Harrelson,Jesse Eisenberg,Emma Stone, andAbigail Breslinas a ragtag group of survivors making their way through a post-zombie apocalypse wasteland. At the time, Stone and Eisenberg were at the beginning of their careers, and now Stone has an Oscar and Eisenberg is Lex Luthor. It’d be one hell of a gift if this core quartet all returned, especially with a worthwhile story.
Zombieland 2has been through a number of iterations over the years, and as recently as 2016Sony was looking for a new writerwhile Fleischer was still attached to return and direct. Fleischer is currently finishing up the upcomingVenomfor Sony, which means he’d be free and clear to makeZombieland 2in early 2019 just as Reese and Wernick say.
It’s unclear who wrote the most recent draft of the script, but Reese and Wernick are serving as executive producers and overseers. They wrote the TV series adaptation of the film for Amazon, which was subsequently dropped after the pilot failed to make much of a mark.
Since this project has been through so many ups and downs it’s hard to actually believe this might happen, but stay tuned folks. Good news may be coming.
