Back in the fall of 2009, a little film called “Zombieland” starring an unlikely and at the time, certainly unbankable trio of leads in Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg and Emma Stone, hit theaters with low expectations and wound up taking in over $100 million at the box office. It was a massive that most were not expecting and it wasn’t long for sequel talk to follow. Throughout much of last year various rumors surfaced, culminating in talk last fall of new celebrity cameos which co-writer Rhett Reese quickly debunked. And ever since, word has gone quiet. Earlier this year, Harrelson was cagey about the prospect of a sequel saying, “I’m sure it will happen if everyone does it, but I’m not sure it’s the right thing to do.” And it looks like his fellow co-star shares his reservations.
Speaking with Little White Lies Eisenberg confirms that work is happening on a “Zombieland 2,” but he doesn’t particularly seem enthused about it immediately denying his involvement — for now. “No. They’re writing the script right now but I haven’t seen it and I suspect that the longer we wait, the less relevant it will be,” he said. “I mean, all the actors would love to do it and the director would love to do it but I’m not sure what’s happening.”
Certainly, from a studio perspective, we could see the allure of getting everyone back together, particularly since the stock of both Eisenberg and Stone have been raised considerably since. But at the same time, we understand the hesitation of the film’s stars. The original was such a smart, small and fresh film we can’t imagine that the sequel would be anything but diminishing returns (unless writers Rheese and Paul Wernick really knock out one helluva script). We’d frankly be fine if it never happened, but you can bet the studio will take another swing at the pinata and try and convince everyone to armor up to battle more baddies again. But as Eisenberg notes, while he might be game, he’s not sure how relevant a followup would as the time continues to stretch out. But with something like “Men In Black III” happening a decade after its predecessor, there is no statute of limitations on studios revisiting a franchise so we doubt this will be the last we — or Eisenberg — hears about it.
