The horror genre emerged in the 1930s, and Victor Halperin’sWhite Zombie, starring Bela Lugosi, is generally regarded as the very first flick to feature walking corpses. Zombies have been depicted quite differently on the screen. They can be slow movers, sprinters, or climbers, and either mindless or freakishly self-aware. They’ve been called Walkers, Deadites, Rotters, Biters, and the Living Dead. Their ravenous state may be the result of a man-made virus, a disease, or a supernatural spell. Regardless of all these elements, what matters is that this subgenre is still as popular as ever, and producing not only acclaimed standalone films and long-running series, but also movie franchises.
Case in point: the post-apocalyptic horror comedyZombieland(2009), which grossed $102.4 million at the box office, and its sequelZombieland: Double Tap(2019), which made $125.2 million. Directed by Ruben Fleischer, they star Woody Harrelson as Tallahassee, Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus, Emma Stone as Wichita, and Abigail Breslin as Little Rock. Special appearances include Bill Murray as a fictionalized version of himself, and Rosario Dawson as Nevada, the owner of an Elvis-themed motel.
After a mad-cow disease turns into a zombie outbreak, Tallahassee, a trigger-happy guy who recently lost his son,reluctantly teams upwith the awkward and diligent Columbus. As if fighting flesh-eating creatures weren’t enough, they are also conned by two sisters, smokey-eyed Wichita and 12-year-old Little Rock. The sequel, set several years after those events, features evolved, harder-to-kill zombies (hence the “double tap”), romance, and the search for a violence-free community.
As entertaining as these two films are, the following behind-the-scenes facts are equally interesting to fans, while they cross their fingers for a third installment in 2029.
12Emma Stone Is Hoping for a New Chapter Every Decade
Even thoughZombieland 3is still just wishful thinking, Emma Stone has declared she would absolutely love to be in it. In fact,as per GameSpot, Ruben Fleischer admitted that theLa La Landstar told him, “She hopes that every ten years, we can make aZombieland. Almost like in aBoyhoodor something-type way, we can just check in with our characters and see how they’re doing in the post-apocalypse.”
A fitting comparison, since Richard Linklater’s 2014 coming-of-age drama was filmed over 12 years. It would be interesting to see what would become of the relationships within the growing gang, and how the infected would mutate into scarier versions.
Related:Emma Stone’s Funniest Movie Roles, Ranked
11The First Script Was Intended for a TV Pilot
Writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the duo behindDeadpool, first developed the script as an hour-long television pilot in 2005 and sold it to CBS. The network had a lot of remarks and requested several changes, but the show was never made, and the script was eventually revised and developed into a feature.Reese told ScriptMagthat they owed it all to Sony Television executive Chris Parnell and producer Gavin Polone, saying, “To Chris Parnell’s credit, he never gave up on the project, and Gavin Polone convinced his bosses to hire us to expand the concept into a made-for-TV movie, or straight-to-DVD film. When we wrote the feature version, Gavin decided that the project was too good – not to mention too expensive – to go straight to DVD, so he took the project to Columbia, where executive Matt Tolmach fell in love with the script, and we made it.”
As for the “Zombie kill of the week” moments from the movies, it is a leftover idea intended for the weekly TV show.
10"Nut Up or Shut Up" Almost Didn’t Make It
Tallahassee is obsessed with finding a Twinkie bar in the apocalypse, and when Columbus sees his wide array of bizarre weapons and expresses his reluctance to risk his life for a snack cake, Tallahassee seems more determined than ever to go into the grocery store, and tells his young partner that it’s “Time to Nut Up or Shut Up.”
Fleischer thought that line was cheesy and almost had it removed, but Polone, who also producedCurb Your EnthusiasmandGilmore Girls, insisted they kept it, and it turned out to beZombieland’smost memorable line.
9Except Harrelson Doesn’t Eat Twinkies…
The irony is that Woody Harrelson doesn’t eat Twinkies because he is a strict vegan, and they contain beef fat and eggs. The ones he touches and munches on were made out of cornmeal especially for him. In fact, one of his conditions for accepting the role of Tallahassee was for Fleischer to follow a strict vegan diet for a week during production. Fleischer had difficulties adhering to this rule, but ended up doing it for months after shooting wrapped, as a personal challenge.
8Shooting Was Delayed Because of Harrelson’s Arrest
Harrelson was arrested for marijuana possession, which delayed the production ofZombielandfor a day. The actor was a fervent supporter of cannabis at the time, especially for medicinal use, but in the state of Georgia, where principal photography was taking place, selling, buying, using, and growing marijuana for recreational purposes were illegal.
7Murray’s Cameo Could Have Gone to Another Star
Bill Murray’s iconic cameo almost didn’t happen, because the role was first offered toDirty DancingandGhoststar Patrick Swayze, but the latter turned it down following his cancer diagnosis, and passed away on August 04, 2025, a few weeks beforeZombielandpremiered.
Other actors were asked to pop in as zombies, namely Mark Hamill, Joe Pesci, Dwayne Johnson, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Kevin Bacon, and Matthew McConaughey.
Murray was reportedly paid $3 million for his short scenes.
Little Rock:Who’s Bill Murray?
Tallahassee:I’ve never hit a kid before. I mean, that’s like asking who Gandhi is.
Little Rock:Who’s Gandhi?
6That Isn’t Murray’s Actual Mansion
The four main characters go to Beverly Hills and take shelter in Murray’s Mediterranean-style, 33,000 square-foot mansion, thinking he has abandoned it, but the actor is actually still around, only disguised as a zombie to ward off real ones. This is in fact business tycoon Lee Najjar’s house in Buckhead, a suburb in Atlanta, and it is Najjar’s own red Ferrari F430 Spyder that can be seen in the garage.
Fleischer has commented multiple times that he credits Edgar Wright’s 2004 zombie comedyShaun of the Deadfor inspiring some scenes in those two movies. InDouble Tap, for instance, the part where Columbus and Tallahassee meet their “mirror selves” Albuquerque (Luke Wilson) and Flagstaff (Thomas Middleditch) is reminiscent of a scene where Shaun’s band of survivors meets another group with strikingly similar characters.
4Harrelson Really Played the Banjo
Harrelson actually plays the banjo in the supermarket scene where he is looking for Twinkies; it wasn’t dubbed in post-production. The actor was so dedicated to his role that he had previously taken the time to learn how to play the instrument properly. His character used the banjo not only to attract potential zombies lurking at the supermarket, but also to bash their heads.
It goes without saying thatsome lines are bound to be ad-libbedin comedies. After Columbus shoots Murray in his mansion, having mistaken him for an actual zombie, Little Rock asks Murray if he has any regrets. The actor then gives her the unscripted reply, “Garfield, maybe.” This is a reference to the 2004 live-action comedyGarfield: The Movie, in which Murray voices the cynical and lazy orange cat. Wernick and Reese liked it so much that in the sequel’s post-credits, they created a flashback scene taking place on the first day of the apocalypse, and Murray was shown at a press event forGarfield 3: Flabby Tabby, an actual canceled sequel.
Another ad-libbed moment is Little Rock and Tallahassee’s conversation in the back of the Hummer, when she says, “She’s only famous when she’s Hannah Montana. When she’s wearing the wig.”
