Last weekend Zombieland couldn't hold on to its top spot at the box office, instead losing to a poorly reviewed Couples Retreat (sorry but the previews make it look like dogshit) and ending up at #2 with $15 million. Zombieland was budgeted at $22 million and with its box office gross already at $47 million, we started to wonder if a sequel is on its way or not. Before Zombieland's second weekend co-screenwriter Paul Wernick talked with ShockTillYouDrop saying that, while no decision has been made about a sequel yet, that it all comes down to the box office benjamins.
The push for the sequel, well, the studio just has to get into it with everyone about budgets and next steps. It all depends on box office. We'll be watching it closely this weekend to see how it progresses.
So, wait, is Wernick trying to say that Zombieland is treated like every other movie that's released? But with Zombieland performing so well, shouldn't a sequel be announced soon? Co-screenwriter Rhett Reese has said that decision will likely come in mid-November.
Luckily, Wernick told MTV, the entire cast is excited to return, especially Woody Harrelson.
Everyone involved creatively wants to do another one. Woody came up to us after the final cut of the last scene and gave us a hug and said, "I've never wanted to do a sequel in the previous movies I've done until this one."
Wernick and fellow screenwriter Rhett Reese have enough material, considering the movie was originally a TV pilot.
It has lived in our heads for four-and-a-half years. We developed it and wrote it as a spec TV pilot in the summer of 2005. We've got a long brainstorming document that still to this day gets updated on a near-weekly basis with ideas. We've got tons of new ideas swimming in our head.
Wernick indicated that director Ruben Fleischer would also come back for a sequel, though THR reports the director is quickly becoming way too busy after being approached with 3 possible new projects including a Will Ferrell comedy called Daddy's Home with Ferrell as a divorcee re-entering the singles scene, as well as the sci-fi comedy Neighborhood Watch, and 21 Jump Street, a reboot of the 80s TV show this time with Jonah Hill instead of Johnny Depp. Same type, right?
Columbia better hurry if they actually want to make Zombieland 2.
