Zombieland: Double Tap opens this weekend to great fan expectations. The first film has become something of a cult classic that helped usher both Jessie Eisenberg and Emma Stone into the upper echelon of Hollywood and ever since the original movie grossed over $100 million at the box office, audiences have been eagerly awaiting a follow-up.
But for a while it seemed like it wasn’t going to happen, even though it was constantly talked about. Universal and Amazon even tried to reboot the whole thing as a streaming series for Prime, but that quickly crashed and burned.
However, the stars finally aligned and after ten long years, the second film in the franchise is now upon us. This is certainly cause for celebration in its own right, as the movie looks to be another hit for all involved, but it’s worth wondering if this is the end of the line or the start of something bigger.
We’ll have to wait for the receipts to all be counted before any sort of deal can be made, but if director Ruben Fleischer has his way, there will be plenty more Zombieland stories to come. During a recent interview, the acclaimed filmmaker opened up about his views for the future of the series and said:
I wouldn’t want to begin to project, but yeah. Tonally, I think this one’s very similar to the first. I think conceptually it has a lot of distinction. The whole idea of meeting other survivors was cool, but one idea that was brought up that I think would be cool is seeing what’s going on in other parts of the world, which would be exciting for me. Let’s imagine the movie beginning with them all getting off a boat and landing someplace and seeing what that’s like. You know, just not shooting me in Atlanta again. Hawaii sounds nice this time of year… nights in February in Atlanta are really cold. I wouldn’t be made to see what’s going on in Turks and Caicos. What they’re zombie virus was.
This isn’t definitive in any way, shape, or form, but it’s good to hear that the people behind the project are thinking about the possibilities. If fans flock to the multiplexes like they did for the first film, it’s likely an order for a threequel will come down the pipeline. Here’s hoping that if Zombieland does get another sequel though, that it doesn’t take another ten years to happen.