Zombieland: Double Tap writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese felt the film franchise paved the way for The Walking Dead.
The writing duo did an interview with Deadline where they spoke on subjects ranging from worries about sequel fatigue to Ryan Reynolds' failed cameo in the film. When the subject of zombies becoming mainstream arose, they revealed Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman approached Wernick to discuss the movie's relationship to the multimedia zombie phenomenon.
“It was a Deadpool screening many years ago and he [Robert Kirkman] came up to me and said that Zombieland really opened the doors for The Walking Dead’s transition to television and to AMC,” said Wernick. “Zombieland really was one of the zombie genre’s first commercial hits. The movies before us mostly had cult followings. Great movies like 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead had come out but they really hadn’t hit that commercial spectrum in a way that would inspire studios to take those risks that they’re always fearful of taking. He said that Zombieland’s commercial success actually gave AMC the courage to move forward with the show so he was very complimentary and thankful.”
Wernick also spoke about his failed ventures into the TV world, saying, “We had the idea of zombies on TV before The Walking Dead, believe it or not, long ago, but obviously CBS didn’t move forward with the pilot."
Despite their idea predating The Walking Dead TV adaptation, Reese gave the series props for propelling the zombie genre to international success. "A lot of people thought of it as a fringe or cult thing but then The Walking Dead pushed zombies into the mainstream even more then [sic] we did," he stated. "I think that’s going to help us with box-office overseas in some places that didn’t really know what zombies were before.”
Directed by Ruben Fleischer from a script by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and David Callaham, Zombieland: Double Tap stars Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Jesse Eisenberg and Abigail Breslin. The film is in theatres now.