Move Over Twilight: Zombies Are the New Vampires

With Twilight mania reaching a fevered pitch in advance of the November premiere for New Moon, vampires may be all the rage in Hollywood but it looks like they’ll soon be facing some stiff competition. Zombies are the latest undead headed to the big screen with Sony’s Zombieland opening next week and two other projects- Xombie and Rainbow Ridge- already in the works at powerhouse studio DreamWorks. RadarOnline.com dug deeper with Zombieland’s makers and stars to get to the bottom of this corpse craze and why it may be a reflection of where the country is at.

His co-star Mike White agrees that zombies are the superior undead. “They’re just a timeless cinematic pleasure. I like zombie movies because they can bring in a little social satire. Vampires just suck blood, but zombies eat flesh too!”

Director Ruben Fleischer adds: “I think there’s something about the economy actually. Whenever people become anxious about the future and about the economy, that seems to be when zombies become popular. There was a slew of zombie movies in the 1980’s in the Reagan administration when the country was really suffering. Obviously we’re in a bit of a hard spot right now and I think that people are anxious about the world and so the zombies are making a bit of a comeback.

“Somehow we’ve ended up on the front end of a zombie wave that’s been sweeping the town,” screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick said, foreshadowing the movies to come. “So were happy to be here.”

So is the movie’s star feeling the zombie vs. vampire heat? Cool as usual, Harrelson remarked confidently, “I don’t feel competitive.” Watch your back Robert Pattinson!