Zombieland TV Pilot Gets Official Green Light From Amazon, Lead Cast Confirmed

Zombieland may be a TV series soon enough! That in itself isn't really news. We've known that there's been a Zombieland pilot in development since January. But until today, Amazon hasn't gone on the record as being the studio behind the TV show follow-up to the popular zombie horror-comedy. film. Not only did Amazon announce that they've given the pilot the green light, which is in production, but they've also confirmed the cast for the project, which joins the other six comedy pilots and six children's pilots in the works at Amazon Studios.

The pilot is based on the 2009 film, Zombieland, and will see the four lead characters continuing their search for a place to call home in a country overrun by zombies. The film carried more of a Shaun of the Dead-like tone in approaching the living dead from a humorous direction, as opposed to the scarier and darker Night of the Living Dead/Dawn of the Dead tone. While The Walking Dead has the market cornered on serious zombie dramas right now, a Zombieland series could fill the niche for zombie humor on the small screen, should things work out for the project. The film's creative team - writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, and producer Gavin Polone - join confirmed director Eli Craig (Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil) for the adaptation.

Playing the role of Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson in the film) is Kirk Ward of The Island and also briefly, Forrest Gump (I'm pretty sure this is his scene - language NSFW!). Switched At Birth's Maiara Walsh will play Wichita (Emma Stone's role in the film), while Izabela Vidovic will play her little sister Little Rock (Abigail Breslin in the film). Finally, Tyler Ross will play the lead - Jesse Eisenberg's role in the film - Columbus.

“Zombieland will strive to break the rules—action, adventure, thrills, chills and laughs and all packed into a half hour format, said creator Paul Wernick. “This is not your average show but Amazon is not your average network.”

Amazon's official announcement that this project is in the works is hopefully a sign that things are going well for the comedy. As an Amazon Prime subscriber, I'm eager to see what the service brings to their streaming video feature in the way of original content. A Zombieland TV sequel has real potential to be a flagship series for the service, should it move past the pilot stage.

“Zombieland is a fan favorite and we can’t wait to see where this story line goes in a serialized format,” said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios. “We’ve been announcing a lot of exciting exclusive content for Prime Instant Video, like Downton Abbey, Under the Dome, and Justified, and we think adding original shows to that lineup is going to make Prime even more enticing for customers.”

Kelly West
Assistant Managing Editor

Kelly joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006 and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before moving over to other roles on the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing feature content on the site. She an expert in all things Harry Potter, books from a variety of genres (sci-fi, mystery, horror, YA, drama, romance -- anything with a great story and interesting characters.), watching Big Brother, frequently rewatching The Office, listening to Taylor Swift, and playing The Sims.