With Netflix’s first stab at original content with House Of Cards proving a big success, Amazon will be hoping that its own flagship pilot, Zombieland, can generate similar buzz. Sony TV, which is backing the embryonic show, has now rounded up someone brave enough to fill Woody Harrelson’s hat, and Kirk Ward will be the series’ Tallahassee.
Zombieland writer/producers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese are overseeing the new show, which has kicked off work on its pilot in Atlanta. According to Deadline, the pair had Ward originally in mind for Tallahassee after working with him on short-lived TV comedy Invasion Iowa, but that the film version needed a bigger name.
Ward will co-star alongside Tyler Ross (Columbus), Izabela Vidovic (Little Rock) and Maiara Walsh, who inherits Emma Stone’s mantle as Wichita.
The series (set as 30 minute shows) continues the foursome’s adventures in a zombie-infested America, and given that the concept was originally pitched as a series to US network CBS, Wernick and Reese have plenty of material buzzing around in their noggins if it becomes a hit and keeps going for years, even if they end up handing the reins to someone else so they can focus on their film writing careers.
No date has been announced for the series (assuming it actually gets picked up by Amazon), but we’d guess it’ll arrive next year. It does, however, mean, that any cinematic Zombieland sequel is on hold for now.