A trailer for an animated zombie flick called A.D. has just popped up on YouTube [via boingboing.net] and it's freakin' amazing.  Unfortunately, there's currently no guarantee of a feature film to follow.  Writer Haylar Garcia and director Ben Hibon are still in search of a studio and are using the 1 ½ minute preview to generate interest;  hopefully, it'll work, because this brief glimpse at the sleek and somber vision of post-apocalyptica that they've got in mind has seriously whetted my appetite for some CG zombie mayhem.  And it looks like this'll be more than a straight-up hack-and-slash affair.  Just what type of market there'll be for a down-beat animated zombie film is unclear, but I'm praying some studio takes a chance on this.  Hit the jump to get your first look at A.D. and to read an excerpt from an interview with the creative team:

Neither Hibon nor Garcia has any real Hollywood accolades to speak of (though Hibon is the director of the popular video game Heavenly Sword).  However, they're working on this project with Land of the Dead and 300 producer Bernie Goldmann, which should give them a certain level of credibility in the selling process...provided, of course, their trailer, which currently has the Internet all abuzz, doesn't prove to be enough on its own.   Here's the trailer and further down are some excerpts from an interview with ZombieInfo.com detailing what they've got in store for you.

Here's are some excerpts from the interview:

Haylar Garcia (writer):

One day I realized that almost all zombie films, though cool, seemed to have such a modest scope. I suddenly wanted to write a screenplay that had the feel of a huge action flick coupled the macabre charm and metaphoric content of the great zombie film too.   (The Independence Day of Zombie films if you will).

Ben Hibon (director):

We set out to create a visual universe that distinguished itself from the classic zombie formula. Translating Haylar's script into animation was the first step to making this project unique. Animation very rarely ventures into mature and dark territories. It's very important to define a strong and bold look for this movie, create our own visual benchmark. A.D. has definitely its very own identity that serves the purpose of the movie; it's stylised and graphical, but very gritty and textured just like the reality and the world the story is set in.

Bernie Goldmann (producer):

Whenever you want to do anything that challenges the way people think about movies things move slowly. Movie executives want to make 100 versions of the same movie. Which from their perspective makes sense. You don't get fired for making the Reese Witherspoon romantic comedy. I completely believe that AD will be a hit movie. The zombie genre could use some reinvention. This movie will be like no other.

Tarik Heitmann (producer):

I love all kinds of movies, especially horror and action flicks, but what drew me to this story was the magnitude of it. Most Zombie movies are very self-contained and Haylar just freakin' took this genre and elevated it to a huge action-horror adventure.