ZOMBIELAND Sequel to feature New Humans, Woody in Love, and lots of 3D Fluids
When Sony announced in December that Zombieland would be getting a sequel in 3D, writers/creators Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick were already crafting the screenplay. The first movie(now out on DVD), debuted number 1 at the box-office, and earned more than it's $24 million budget that first weekend, and totaled $93.3 million in its worldwide run. Director Ruben Fleischer will return to helm the 3D sequel, with the main cast (Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin) expected to reprise their roles.
In a recent interview with MTV, Reese confirmed:
There absolutely will be a sequel, and it will absolutely be in 3-D. Now, it’s just a question of what that sequel will be. It’s not a question of having enough ideas, but almost having too many ideas. We have a lot of ideas!
Reese and Wernick literally have a whole new dimension to play with and they revealed that they plan to utilize every ounce of blood and gore to give the audience an even more visceral experience. Going against the grain of filmmakers who claim to concentrate on the story first and the three-dimensional stuff later, the writers are looking to embrace the spectacle of it all:
Wernick explained:
We entirely want to write with 3-D in mind. We have the vision, and want to have fun with the technology.
Reese added:
We want you to be looking down at your popcorn to make sure there isn’t blood on it. There will be a lot of fluids flying!
I'm not a fan of the gimmicky 3D stuff. But Zombieland was already a very immersive movie, with titles and rules being being affected by characters and the environments in turn being affected by the titles. Just imagine that opening sequence in 3D!
As for expanding the world of Zombieland, Wernick revealed:
We want to stick with our dysfunctional family. But also introduce new characters.
So what's in store for the misfit band of survivors? Reese said he hopes to introduce a female character that could keep up with Woody Harrelson’s Tallahassee's high-adrenaline, zombie-killing ways.
There will be continuing romantic adventures. We haven’t decided on this, but it would be nice to have a love interest for Tallahassee.
I'm just gonna throw it out there, and even though I don't like Juliette Lewis in a lot of her other roles, it would be pretty amazing to see Woody reunite with his Natural Born Killers co-star!
But the writing duo is careful in introducing new human characters to fight alongside our heroes, Reese explained:
I think that we like to think about the 'Zombieland' characters in terms of how they survived, what qualities do they have that led them to survive? As long as they have some quality for survival, then they make sense for the movie.
As meticulous as they are in crafting new humans, they aren’t afraid to mess with the zombie canon, Reese adding with a laugh:
We don’t discriminate when it comes to zombies. We like to think that a zombie’s character isn’t just about their profession, or what their personality was, but what were they doing at that moment they became a zombie.
The writers, ended by revealing that they have big plans for Abigail Breslin’s tough-talking-tween character. Reese said:
I think that it’s going to continue to be about growing up in Zombieland. Growing up in a world that’s not necessarily geared towards growing up; it’s a world that forces you to grow up much quicker than you would have otherwise.
Reese and Wernick are extremely in demand right now, currently writing the Deadpool spin-off film, among many others. Zombieland 2 remains in the development stages with an aim for a 2011, or early 2012 release... in 3D.
What do you think of Reese and Wernick's plans for ZOMBIELAND 2? Are there any actresses out there you can think of that would be a good love interest for Woody's character?
For the video interview click on over to MTV.