'50/50' Director Takes on Lovesick Zombie in 'Warm Bodies'

I would ask where Hollywood gets its ideas for movies, but it's self-evident. They come from authors of young adult novels who want to make all the money they can off of teens while they are still interested in the gothic tales of the supernatural that are so popular right now. The latest movie "monster" to get the "Twilight" treatment is the zombie. August 10, 2012, will bring us the big-screen adaptation of Isaac Marion's "Warm Bodies."

The book tells the tale of a zombie named "R" who can think for himself. He's not the brain-dead, lumbering type of walking dead creature you think of when the monster is brought up in "everyday" conversation. This agonizing teenager's life is made more complicated in death when he falls for the girlfriend of one of his victims. How will their growing relationship affect him and the rest of the living dead?

Author Marion HAS to be a fan of the 1993 cult classic "My Boyfriend's Back." This sounds like a mash-up of that movie, "Twilight," and "Shaun of the Dead." However, this is being marketed as a romance/horror/drama film. It will definitely be more along the lines of the seriousness of "Twilight" and the appalling "Beastly."

Jonathan Levine will be writing and directing "Warm Bodies." Levine directed the Golden Globe-nominated "50/50" and slasher "All the Boys Love Mandy Lane." He could very well take his proven talents and turn what sounds like another attempt at capitalizing on teen angst into a legitimately good movie. It seems far-fetched that this could happen, but he has garnered quite a bit of positive feedback for his past work.

The movie will star Teresa Palmer, who has been making quite a name for herself in recent films like "I Am Number Four" and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." Nicholas Hoult is playing "R." He has appeared in the high profile film "X-Men: First Class" recently as Beast and will be appearing as the lead character in this summer's "Jack the Giant Killer." John Malkovich took a role in the project as a general. Seeing an actor of his caliber in a movie like this will be interesting to say the least.

"Warm Bodies" will be distributed through Summit Entertainment. The studio must be looking for something to replace the "Twilight" franchise after the last movie in the series this year. "Warm Bodies" is scheduled for release on August 10, 2012.

For more articles by Eric Shirey, check out:

How 'Superman: The Movie' Launched the Superhero Genre
December 22: 'The Mummy' Rises From His Tomb for the First Time
December 20: 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' 1978 Remake Unleashed

Eric Shirey is the founder and former editor of Rondo Award nominated movie news websites MovieGeekFeed.com and TheSpectralRealm.com. His work has been featured on Yahoo!, DC Comics, StarWars.com, and other entertainment websites. Eric has interviewed and worked with actors like Harrison Ford, Brooke Shields, Gerard Butler, Brendan Fraser, Selena Gomez, and many more.

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