TV and movie fans can’t seem to get enough of the mysterious mythos surrounding the horrific idea of zombies. Gaining in popularity since George Romero’s 1968 cult film Night of the Living Dead, stories of the deceased coming back to life have flooded TV and movie screens worldwide. Eventually gaining the term “zombie”, the appearance of these creatures signals the beginning of the now popular term “zombie apocalypse”.
Although various films have depicted the aftermath of such an occurrence, the world found in Zombieland certainly stands out from the others. Filled with hilarious jokes, zombie slayings, and unforgettable characters, the movie managed to carve out its own unique place within zombie fandoms.
One of the biggest takeaways from the film became the inclusion of a list of survival rules in case a zombie apocalypse occurs. These rules, varying from the sensible to the ridiculous, helped to build the movie’s unique universe and added to the anticipation for the film.
The series became such a fan favorite that the creators have begun the process of bringing the Zombieland world back to the big screen with a new sequel. The beloved cast of Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, and Abigail Breslin is reuniting, along with director Reuben Fleischer (Venom) and screenwriters Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese (Deadpool).
Before we travel back to the world of Zombieland, we wanted to take a close look at the behind-the-scenes history of the making of the first film.
Here are 20 Crazy Details Behind The Making Of Zombieland.
It was originally a TV show
The early beginnings of the world of Zombieland came to the doorstep of a major network: CBS. The original concept of the story began as a tv script from the writers. However, CBS never made a move to produce the pilot.
Co-writer/producer Wernick shared with IGN that “we wrote it as a spec, feeling that the zombie genre had not really been tapped in the TV side. And we sold it to CBS and went through a little bit of development at CBS, and we did not end up making the pilot. And it sat at Sony TV, who we had been partnered with on the project, for several years.”
However, thanks to an exec with SonyTV, the project found new life as a full-length movie script.
It was blacklisted
Zombieland created quite stir when it was finally released in theaters. Thanks to its great cast, entertaining script, and memorable moments, audiences fell in love with the quirky zombie tale. However, even before the actual movie scripted had been picked up, there was quite a bit of buzz around the script.
The script appeared on the Black List, the annual list of scripts that have yet to be picked up in Hollywood.
Ranked by industry insiders, the list reflects the most liked scripts of each year. In 2007, the script for Zombieland made it onto the list, along with other promising scripts including Selma, World War Z, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Adventureland. Incidentally, Zombieland lead actor Jesse Eisenberg would later star in Adventureland in 2009 as well.
Patrick Swayze Almost Played the Celebrity Zombie Cameo
Bill Murray’s cameo in Zombieland came as a great surprise to the audience. Watching him be a fake zombie to survive the apocalypse in his massive mansion added more humor to the film and allowed the actor to play himself. Although his scenes became a favorite for many viewers, the cameo could have been entirely different with another legendary actor in the role.
Initially, the writers had Dirty Dancing legend Patrick Swayze in mind for the part. Their initial plans included “these wonderful moments where they found a potter’s wheel, and there’s Columbus on the wheel, and these other hands come up behind him, and it’s Patrick Swayze the zombie.”
There were even plans to incorporate the legendary Dirty Dancing lift. Sadly, Swayze was already very ill from cancer and had to decline the role.
The Hannah Montana Hummer Scene was Ad-libbed
Amidst the numerous zombie attacks and fights to survive the apocalypse, Zombieland managed to capture many hilarious moments in the lives of the survivors. One especially humorous moment took place between Tallahassee (Harrelson) and Little Rock (played by Abigail Breslin) during a scene in the Hummer. Their topic of discussion: Hanna Montana.
The lively argument produced great lines including “No! She’s only famous when she’s Hannah Montana! She’s only famous when she’s wearing the wig!”
Surprisingly, this scene turned out to be ad-libbed by the two performers.
Co-writer Wernick noted, “I think Ruben, our director, has created such a safe environment for the actors and everyone feels very comfortable and collaborative that, you know, we get these great gems that come out of the day that we wouldn’t have expected at the start.”
Woody Harrelson Had 4 Conditions Before Accepting His Role
The addition of Woody Harrelson to the cast of Zombieland became a guarantee of quirky behavior and side-splitting humor. However, by agreeing to join the cast, he also made several demands that he expected the cast and crew to follow.
These weren’t the type of diva demands you may be expecting.
In an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, Fleischer recalled “The first two were fairly reasonable about casting and crew. The third was that we have an environmentally conscious set. And the fourth was that I don’t eat dairy for a week."
Understandably, he wasn’t too keen to comply with the last demand but it had great results. He explained, “I ended up being a vegetarian for 11 months as a result.”
Every Drop Of Blood Was Digitally Added
Along with creating the look of the zombies, visual effects teams must also be prepared to portray these zombies being slashed to bits. Part of the fun of watching this sort of movie is seeing the creative methods of eliminating the zombies and splatter that follows each takedown.
The production of Zombieland took a “cleaner” method to their zombies: all of the blood was added digitally.
These effects were added post-production so that the crew didn’t have to spend time creating fake blood.
Although this seemed ingenious at the time, some critics did not like the way they effects looked. The Playlist commented: “ The incessant use of digital blood inserted afterwards in post-production. This is an egregious trend we keep seeing more and more of and it’s blatantly fake. Sure, it’s not a dealbreaker, but it does look weird and out of place."
Woody Harrelson Ate Custom-Made Vegan Twinkies
Zombieland provided a comedic look at how a group of strangers comes together to survive a zombie apocalypse. Throughout their journey, they meet new survivors and work together to survive. Moreover, of course, each character has their own peculiar quirks about them.
Tallahassee (played by Woody Harrelson) obsessively searched for Twinkies throughout the movie. However, Harrelson did not care for the snacks because they were not vegan.
According to Harrelson, the production team considered his dietary choices for the film: “I’m not a Twinkie lover. I don’t do sugar or dairy either. When we finally shot my Twinkie-eating scene in the movie, they had to give me a specially made mock Twinkie made of corn meal.”
The Supermarket Was Built from Scratch
One of the most entertaining scenes of the movie took place in Blaine’s Grocery store. Most moviegoers believed the scene took place in an actual store. However, the production team constructed the entire set from scratch.
The set was an empty building in Powder Springs, located about 20 miles away from Atlanta, Georgia. Comingsoon reported that the set “included a lot of attention to detail including all of the signage placed throughout the store and on the front windows, and filling up all of the shelves with realistic product they had actually rented for the days. To save on costs, they had made props versions of all the perishable meats…”
This impressive attention to detail is part of what made Zombieland stand out from the zombie pack.
Harrelson Wasn’t The First Choice For Tallahassee
Long before the script for the Zombieland movie took shape, the writers had plans for the show to debut on the small screen. Originally, Zombieland had been created into a spec for a television pilot back in 2005. However, the idea developed into a full-length feature film with a different star as the lead.
Actor Kirk Ward was originally in mind to take the role of Tallahassee in the film.
Although he was eventually replaced in the movie with Woody Harrelson, Ward still found a home in the Zombieland universe. Thanks to the popularity of the film, the creators went on to try their hand at a TV series again. Luckily, their first choice for Tallahassee was still available and actually accepted the role.
They Were 100 Rules Initially
One of the most popular and well-liked aspects of Zombieland was definitely the list of rules. These rules, found within the promotions for the film and within the film, served as a guide for the audience on how to survive a zombie attack. They also helped the characters survive within the movie as well.
These rules have since appeared on posters, shirts and other promotional materials related to the film. However, audiences were short-changed when it came to the complete list of rules.
Originally, the list consisted of over a hundred entries for the film but was eventually whittled down to the 30s for the movie.
In addition, audiences didn’t get the opportunity to see each rule mention due to the length of the film. In reality, fans only witnessed ten rules actually mentioned in the film.
Abigail Breslin Adopted The Puppy From The Movie
Tallahassee had missed two significant things since the start of the zombie apocalypse: Twinkies and his puppy. Although his search for Twinkies continued throughout the movie, he had no way of recovering his puppy, who had been eaten by a zombie.
Audiences saw sweet scenes with Tallahassee as he reminisced on his time with his dog. The puppy selected for the film actually came from a local shelter in Georgia and was selected just for the film. Once actress Abigail Breslin saw him, however, she could not resist keeping him. For her 13th birthday present to herself, she decided to adopt the dog!
Her new furry friend was a twelve-week-old puppy Australian shepherd mix named Ellie. What a great birthday gift!
Woody Harrelson Learned To Play The Banjo For Real
Actor Woody Harrelson prides himself in taking every role her accepts very seriously. Whether he played in a comedic TV series or a dramatic feature film role, he takes his time to get to know the character and bring new life into the role onscreen. His part is Zombieland was no exception.
Despite the silliness and odd behavior of Tallahassee, Harrelson did his best to make the character his own and bring his own spin to his portrayal.
Included in his method acting for the role was taking on the task of learning how to play an instrument.
During the film, we see Tallahassee playing the banjo during a scene in the grocery store. Though this moment could have been faked, Harrelson actually took the time to learn how to play in real life. That’s commitment.
Several Missing Rules From The Promotions
Even without the full list of rules appearing in the movie, fans of Zombieland still managed to piece together as many of them as possible.
From the promotion teasers and clips to the film’s official merchandising, dedicated fans managed to get their complete list to prepare for any future zombie attacks. Audiences missed out on seeing the following rules in the final cut on the big screen:
Rule #6: “Cast iron skillet”
Rule #12: “Bounty paper towels”
Rule #15: “Bowling Ball”
Rule #29: “The buddy system”
Rule #33: “Swiss army knife”
Rule #34: “Clean socks”
Rule #48: “Hygiene”
Rule #49: “Always have backup”
Tallahassee’s Hat Was Environmentally Friendly
Woody Harrelson has never backed down from his beliefs or decisions throughout his career. He is an environmental activist and vegan/raw foodist. These beliefs carry over into his acting career, and studios have done their best to respect his choices.
Although certain conditions had to be met in order for him to agree to join the cast, his advocacy for the environment continued even into the costume choices for his role.
Tallahassee’s iconic cowboy hat reflected Harrelson’s real-life environment advocacies.
According to Eccorazzi, “Woody also requested that his special… hat come from a company called Real Deal Brazil which makes all their products out of recycled truck tarp.”
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” Was Almost The Opening Song
The opening credits of Zombieland provided to be not only entertaining but very memorable for fans. Showcasing both the rules in motion and hilarious action, they, inevitably, set the tone for the rest of the film. However, the final version of the opening credit took a major turn when one very popular song could not be used for the film.
According to Uproxx, “director Ruben Fleischer told Vanity Fair that a number of artists were on the table before settling on the metal.” Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was one of the final choices, along with Tiny Tim’s “Tiptoe Through the Tulips”. The final pick went to Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls”.
Harrelson Attacked A Photographer And Blamed The Movie For It
Since his acting beginning back on Cheers, Harrelson has displayed a broad spectrum of acting chops in every small or large role he takes on. However, for this role in Zombieland, his commitment to the character of Tallahassee seemed to take form well beyond the set.
As reported by CNN, Harrelson had a run-in with a TMZ reporter as LaGuardia Airport back in 2009 not long after filming had concluded. However, he suggested that his confrontation was due to being confused after his last role.
He said, “I wrapped a movie called ‘Zombieland,’ in which I was constantly under assault by zombies, then flew to New York, still very much in character… With my daughter at the airport I was startled by a paparazzo, who I quite understandably mistook for a zombie.”
Quite understandably…
The Movie Was Adapted into A TV Show
The process of getting a script picked up in Hollywood, whether for TV or film, can be an arduous process. For the hundreds of scripts that find a home and are produced, thousands of others go unseen by audiences. The life of the Zombieland script took many forms before it was eventually produced.
First, the film started as a TV pilot and almost found a home at CBS. However, the pilot never happened, and the scripted became homeless. Next, it became a film script and found a new fan base on the big screen.
In a strange twist of fate, the popularity of the film brought the creators back to where they started with a new TV script.
Sadly, Zombieland film fans expressed so much hate for the adaptation that the series was never picked up.
John Carpenter Was The Original Director
Director Ruben Fleischer has come a long way since his big screen debut came with helming Zombieland. Since then, his career continued to grow with additional feature films including Gangster Squad, 30 Minutes or Less, and Venom. Though we loved him behind the cameras for the film, another director almost filled his shoes.
Zombieland writers/producers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese confirmed that cult movie director John Carpenter was interested in directing the film. Wernick shared, “…We met with John Carpenter, who wanted to direct the pilot of Zombieland. And then ultimately, it sort of transitioned into a feature and John Carpenter went away. But he read the script and loved it.”
Unfortunately, he could not commit to the project due to his conflicting schedule.
Why were the zombies fast?
Given the lengthy history of zombies in films, movies of this genre understandably became influenced by their predecessors. Although the storyline and origin of the creatures may differ, each zombie movie takes small pieces from earlier films, expanding on the mythos and “rules” of zombies.
For co-writer Rhett Reese, his love for zombie movies became re-invigorated with two recent movies. In an interview with Slashfilm, he stated, “The thing I didn’t like about zombie movies was that they didn’t scare me because of the slow motion… So for me, when they reinvented with 28 Days Later, that was where I felt it got re-enlivened. And then they did it again with Dawn of the Dead. And so back to back, you’ve got these two really, really cool movies with fast zombies.”
Fast zombies are definitely scarier.
Zombieland 2 is on the way
Since its beloved debut back in 2009, fans have clamored for more Zombieland - on the big screen, at least. Thankfully, the creators saw their enthusiasm and have worked to bring the zombie-filled world back to cinemas.
As we reported earlier this year, Zomebieland 2 will be back with the original cast.
Sony President Sanford Panitch stated, “This is one of those projects that fans have wanted to see happen for a long time – and no one wanted to see it happen more than Emma, Woody, Jesse, and Abigail. These are some of the most in-demand actors and I think they are making this movie because they love these characters.”
The film is expected to start filming in early 2019, with a release date of October 11, 2019.
Do you have any other Zombielandtrivia to share? Leave it in the comments!
