After the release of Zombieland: Double Tap, director Ruben Fleischer joked about the possibility of making a third film ten years later. Zedland depicts a college student who becomes a geeky zombie assassin in the post-apocalyptic U.S., surviving owing to rigorous compliance with a rigid set of rules, written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and directed by Fleischer (Venom). When he makes his way along the road, he met three strangers by chance, and then three strangers look for a safe haven from the undead. Jesse Eisenberg played Columbus, Woody Harrelson played Tallahassee, Emma Stone played Wichita, and Abigail Breslin played Little Rock in the film.
Zombieland earned over $100 million worldwide on a small $23 million budget, surpassing Dawn of the Dead as the highest-grossing zombie picture and likely resetting popular culture’s fixation with reanimated bodies. The original actors reunited for Zombieland: Double Tap, which was released almost precisely 10 years after the first film. Although it got similar, the sequel surpassed it at the box office, collecting $122 million more than its predecessor. Although Sony hasn’t rushed the third installment, the box office figures are strong enough to justify a sequel.
Fleischer discussed the possibility of a Zombieland 3 in an exclusive interview with Screen Rant for his upcoming Uncharted remake. Despite the fact that no plans for a third film are currently underway, the director expressed his desire to return to his post-apocalyptic world in 2029. Take a look at what Fleischer had to say about it:
“When we were making Zombieland 2 it was a running joke among us all that, “We got to do this again in another 10 years and see where it’s evolved to.” We’ll see come 2029 if that’s something we’re still thinking about. But I would be so thrilled to get the gang back together and see where their lives have led in the last 10 years.”
The cast and crew of Double Tap showed interest in a cinematic reunion every decade in the run-up to the release of the film. Double Tap finishes with Columbus, Tallahassee, Wichita, Little Rock, and Rosario Dawson’s Nevada in Elvis Presley’s automobile driving out into the sunset, leaving the future open for another comedy, gruesome, and occasionally dramatic adventure. Unlike the sequel, which introduces a new species of smarter, stronger super-zombies, a third picture might take its protagonists to a whole other, and maybe more thrilling, area of the globe. Fleischer, Reese, and Wernick have all made light of the possibility of filming the third picture on an island. Or, at the very least, in a more pleasant filming setting that is primed and ready to take some Fiji Water product placement. Despite this, the franchise did nothing to prevent Twinkies from being eradicated.
In the years after the first Zombieland movie came out, the stars of the movie’s cast rose in popularity because of their increasingly tight schedules. No one thought there would be a second movie. It didn’t hurt that Double Tap went into production, was released in 2019, and proved that the ten-year gap didn’t hurt its chances of being popular. It’s possible that moviegoers may see Zombieland 3 in seven years.
