Zombies have invaded the zeitgeist like not much else over the past few years, but undoubtedly one of the best things to come out of this so-called “zombie craze” is director Ruben Fleischer’s 2009 comedy Zombieland. Boosted by an incredibly strong cast, a whip-smart and funny script, excitingly refreshing visuals from Flesicher, and one of the best cameos in recent memory, the pic grossed over $100 million against a budget of just $23 million. Shortly after its release, talk turned to a sequel, but development on the follow-up has slowed considerably over the past couple of years.
Fleischer is poised to make his big budget debut with the crime drama Gangster Squad, opening this coming Friday, and Steve recently sat down with the filmmaker for an exclusive interview. During the course of their conversation, Fleischer offered an update on Zombieland 2, revealing that there are no immediate plans for the sequel and development stalled because they didn’t have a script that everyone was happy with. Furthermore, Fleischer teased the storyline that they had come up with for the follow-up. Hit the jump to see what he had to say.
Since comments from Fleischer and the cast in recent months have been increasingly pessimistic about the prospects of Zombieland 2 coming to fruition, Steve asked Fleischer if we could finally close the door on the follow-up:
“I hate to do it, but I can say that there’s no immediate plans to make the movie. There’s no script, really, so the likelihood of it happening is slim. But I would not wanna put a nail in that coffin.”
When asked if the studio might be more inclined to get the sequel going now that AMC’s The Walking Dead is breaking ratings records left and right, Fleischer revealed that it’s not the studio that’s been stalling the film’s development:
“Well I think that the studio would be very excited to make it. It’s not that the studio is not excited, it’s that we took one shot at the script [and] it wasn’t something we all got excited to do. And just on a personal level, I was really excited to, having made one movie, to make different movies, not just go back into that world again. But now that I have some distance and I’ve done some other stuff, I would be more inclined to go back to Zombieland I guess you could say. But at the time when the talk of the sequel was really—when it felt like it was possible—I was really kind of shying away from it just because I’ve only made one movie, I wanna make different movies with different people and learn different things, and so I was a little hesitant to just jump right back into the same thing.”
Finally, Fleischer offered up a small tease of what the plot for Zombieland 2 entailed in that first script:
“Needless to say it was a continuation of the original story with the same characters. I guess the only thing I could really say is that the threat to our heroes wasn’t only zombies, like they encounter other people that they’re all jockeying for positions.”
Watch the portion of the interview concerning the Zombieland sequel below followed by a full transcript, and look for Steve’s full interview with Fleischer soon.
Collider: Can we finally close the door on Zombieland 2?
Fleischer: I hate to do it, but I can say that there’s no immediate plans to make the movie. There’s no script, really, so the likelihood of it happening is slim. But I would not wanna put a nail in that coffin.
Do you sort of feel a little bit that you were a bit ahead of the curve of The Walking Dead in terms of being in the pop culture, if you will?
Fleischer: Well zombies are immortal, they’ve been around a long time, long before Zombieland, I mean [there was] Shaun of the Dead. There’s always more. I think our timing was great for Zombieland, it was clear that it connected with an audience at the time it came out, and so it’s cool that people are still excited about the genre.
Do you think the studio, with the success of The Walking Dead, is more inclined to say, “Hey, we have a property that worked, maybe we should really be doing something with this?”
Fleischer: Well I think that the studio would be very excited to make it. It’s not that the studio is not excited, it’s that we took one shot at the script [and] it wasn’t something we all got excited to do. And just on a personal level, I was really excited to, having made one movie, to make different movies, not just go back into that world again. But now that I have some distance and I’ve done some other stuff, I would be more inclined to go back to Zombieland I guess you could say. But at the time when the talk of the sequel was really—when it felt like it was possible—I was really kind of shying away from it just because like I’ve only made one movie, I wanna make different movies with different people and learn different things, and so I was a little hesitant to just jump right back into the same thing.
Do you mind revealing like a one-liner of the tentative script that you had?
Fleischer: Well needless to say it was a continuation of the original story with the same characters. I guess the only thing I could really say is that the threat to our heroes wasn’t only zombies, like they encounter other people that they’re all jockeying for positions.
