Zombieland Writers: Zombieland 2 May Hit Theaters in 2019

Screen Rant

Zombieland 2 With Original Cast May Hit Theaters in 2019

By Sandy Schaefer

Published May 15, 2018

Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick say Zombieland 2 may hit theaters in 2019, just in time for the original film's 10 year anniversary.

Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick say Zombieland 2 may hit theaters in time to mark the first movie's ten year anniversary in 2019. The pair's original zombie action/comedy was a surprise success in 2009 and the writers having been plugging away at a sequel ever since. Reese and Wernick tried to launch a Zombieland TV show to keep the property's fans satisfied in 2013, but Amazon declined to order the pilot to series. It's been a waiting game to see if a second Zombieland film will happen ever since, with the writers having little to report other than "Still working on it" whenever asked.

Part of the problem is that Reese and Wernick have been rather busy over the last ten years. Since Zombieland hit theaters, the duo have written two Deadpool movies, a G.I. Joe sequel, a sci-fi horror/thriller (Life), and have done script work on developing films like the Cowboy Ninja Viking comic book adaptation, in addition to the failed Zombieland pilot. They still found time to complete the Zombieland 2 script last year and, based on their latest update, things have been percolating on that front ever since.

During an interview with Vulture to promote Deadpool 2's release, Reese and Wernick revealed that Zombieland 2 may arrive in time to commemorate the ten year anniversary of the first movie (which opened in theaters on October 2, 2009). “The hope is that we’re shooting that thing early 2019 for an October of ’19 release," according to Wernick, before he added that the original Zombieland cast will be back. Wernick also emphasized that he and Reese can't reveal everything they know about Zombieland 2 just yet, lest anyone think he's just yanking their chain:

“We are sitting on information that we can’t entirely share at this moment, but we can just say we think fans of Zombieland who have been hoping for a Zombieland 2, that we will grant their wish very, very soon.”

Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin in Zombieland holding weapons

The other reason Zombieland 2 hasn't happened yet is because the original film's cast, like its writers, have been in-demand ever since the movie was released. Jesse Eisenberg and Emma Stone were lesser knowns when they starred in Zombieland and their costar Abigail Breslin has since transitioned from being a child actor to young adulthood. At the same time, Woody Harrelson, who played Zombieland's Twinkie-loving Tallahassee, has joined seemingly every other franchise in Hollywood (see also his role in next week's Solo: A Star Wars Story), in-between making time for one-off indie films and True Detective's widely acclaimed first season.

With the original Zombieland's cast and writers now confirmed, it's not clear yet if director Ruben Flesicher is also onboard for Zombieland 2. He and Harrelson only just worked on the Venom movie together and it would only make sense to reunite the entire gang for the sequel (as well as the property's ten year anniversary). With an early 2019 filming start now being targeted for Zombieland 2, news about the sequel's director should be arriving in the foreseeable future.