By Matthew Jackson, Source: Blastr.com
Zombieland was such a pleasantly surprising sleeper hit in 2009 that it seemed impossible we wouldn’t see a sequel. Well, according to producer Gavin Polone, the sequel might be dead, but in its place we could get something better: a TV “zomcom.”
Though the film ended up working out pretty well for creators Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, they actually pitched Zombieland as a TV show in the first place, way back in 2005. According to Polone, a pilot script was even ordered, but no one picked it up for various reasons.
“The original plan for this was to make it as a TV show.” Indeed, CBS actually ordered a pilot script for the concept all the way back in 2005, “but they did what networks do, which is to take all the good stuff out.” CBS ultimately passed and Syfy was interested, but couldn’t make things work financially, Polone says.
That story, of course, has a very happy ending for Reese and Wernick, as well as director Ruben Fleischer and the film’s stars. For a while it seemed like Columbia Pictures would be greenlighting a 3D sequel, but now Wernick and Reese are working with Sony Pictures Television (one of Columbia’s sister companies) and FOX to develop a half-hour comedy series for the 2012-2013 season.
It’s hard not to think that this could work well, especially since Reese and Wernick have been developing TV-related ideas around the Zombieland concept for six years now. Just last year, Reese noted that the flick still contains clues of what the show would be like.
“We always thought [it should be a TV series]. If you watch the movie with that in mind, you will see some remnants of the television show. We have the ‘Zombie Kill of the Week,’ which was always intended to happen every week. The movie ends on a cliffhanger; it doesn’t have a real resolution.”
Polone said we shouldn’t expect the film’s cast to return for a TV gig (because they’re all busy, you know, being movie stars), but even without Tallahassee and his end of days Twinkie search, we can’t help but get excited.
