Director Jonathan Levine’s cancer comedy “50/50” must have honchos quite happy over at Summit; we broke the news way back that the studio would be behind his existential zombie movie, “Warm Bodies,” and the casting on this one continues to be on a par with that of his recent effort for them.
We can add one more talented individual to Levine’s ensemble, as Variety reports that go-to thespian John Malkovich will be joining the film, which is based on a book by Isaac Maron of the same name. The story follows a male zombie, played by the affable Nicholas Hoult, who starts a dangerous relationship with one of his victim’s girlfriends.
That girlfriend will be played by “I Am Number Four” star Teresa Palmer, and the film also features the previously announced comedic presence of Rob Corddry. Malkovich will naturally be filling the role of the film’s villain, a general hell-bent on the destruction of zombies.
We’ll try to refrain from stating the obvious — that the zombie genre is a little overcrowded at this point — and remain optimistic about this one. It certainly is a take on zombies we haven’t seen before, and Levine has proven he has some skills behind the camera with “All the Boys Love Mandy Lane” and “The Wackness,” so perhaps he’ll do right by Maron’s source material. This writer has yet to see the Seth Rogen– and Joseph Gordon-Levitt-starring “50/50,” but advance word seems to be favorable. The cast is stellar, no getting around that, and perhaps this is Malkovich’s reparation to audiences who had to suffer through his brief but godawful performance in “Transformers: Dark of the Moon.”
No word yet on a release date, but the film is gearing up to shoot this month, according to a recent interview The Playlist conducted with Levine. More from that soon. — Benjamin Wright