With interest in a TV series about zombies at an all-week high, Fox is looking to cash in on the zeitgeist with a half-hour small-screen version of Zombieland, the 2009 film that demonstrated that the most important skill for surviving an undead apocalypse is a healthy dose of ironic detachment. Vulture broke the news thanks to its new columnist, Zombieland producer Gavin Polone, who confirmed that Fox and Sony Pictures are in talks with original writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick about developing the show for the 2012 to 2013 season, where it would become the first zombie comedy on the network since Pamela Anderson’s Stacked.
In a way, it’s coming full circle for the project: Zombieland began life as a pitch for a weekly series that CBS passed on—its executives chortling, “Ho ho, who would ever want to watch a TV show about zombies? Don’t you have any stories about a cop or doctor with a paranormal gift?”—followed by Syfy picking up and then slowly putting it down repeatedly, shrugging as it pulled out its empty pockets in a sad pantomime. And in fact, many elements of the show that might have been remain intact in the film, i.e. the “Zombie Kill Of The Week,” the lack of any real resolution, Woody Harrelson’s parting entreaty to stay tuned for New Girl, etc. Unfortunately, should the series happen (and it’s looking good), it will finally put an end to the chances for a film sequel—but that probably wasn’t going to happen anyway. Really, the only regrettable thing about the timing is that the TV version of Emma Stone is already all tied up with Suburgatory.