Zombieland is a 2009 American post-apocalyptic zombie comedy film directed by Ruben Fleischer in his theatrical debut and written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.

Development for Zombieland began in 2005, when Reese and Wernick originally wrote the film as a spec script for a television pilot.

Tony Gardner was hired as the film's special effects makeup designer, which primarily features physical prosthetics to create the look of the zombies.

The two men find a yellow Hummer H2 loaded with weapons and continue on before running into another trap set by the girls, who take them hostage.

Tallahassee steals his gun back and has a stand-off with Wichita, until Columbus intervenes saying that they have bigger problems to worry about, resulting in an uneasy truce between them.

Tallahassee lures the zombies to a game booth and kills several as Columbus heads to the drop tower; he evades and shoots through a horde and safely helps the girls down.

[23] Writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick stated that the idea for Zombieland had "lived in [their] heads" for four-and-a-half years.

[24] Director Ruben Fleischer helped develop the script from a series into a self-contained feature by providing a specific destination to the road story, the amusement park.

[31] Later versions of the script considered Sylvester Stallone, Joe Pesci, Mark Hamill, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Bacon, Jean-Claude Van Damme or Matthew McConaughey as the celebrity.

Principal photography began February 2009 in Hollywood, California, with scenes being shot at Scream Fest Theme Park and other locations.

[36] Filming continued in March in Atlanta, Hapeville, Morrow,[37] Decatur,[38] Newnan and Powder Springs, Georgia, where actress Abigail Breslin celebrated her 13th birthday by adopting a shelter puppy.

[36] Some of the amusement rides prominently featured in the film include Pharaoh's Fury, the Double Shot (redubbed "Blast Off"), the Rattler, the Aviator, and the Bug Out.

[42] Gardner said he was excited about working on the film with first-time filmmaker Ruben Fleischer, who gave him free rein in his zombie design.

[45] Harrelson's choice of headwear for Tallahassee came not just down to style, but also to his environmental passions: the distinctive hat is handmade in Brazil by a company called The Real Deal using recycled cargo-truck tarps and wire from old truck tires.

[46] Shortly after finishing the filming of Zombieland, Harrelson had an altercation with a TMZ photographer at New York City's LaGuardia Airport.

[47] The special-effects team created several visual elements, including "The Rules for Survival", which appear on-screen as they are related to the audience by Columbus: "Do cardio", "Beware of bathrooms", "Check the back seat", and so forth.

"[48] Slate's Josh Levin said, "The pop-up bit works precisely because Zombieland unspools like a game—how can you survive a zombie horde armed with a shotgun, an SUV and a smart mouth?

[55] The film debuted at number one at the box office in North America, with ticket sales of $24,733,155 over its opening weekend, averaging about $8,147 from 3,036 theaters, matching its production budget.

[56] It was credited as having the second-highest-grossing start on record for a zombie film behind the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake, and as "the first American horror comedy in recent memory to find significant theatrical success".

The website's consensus reads: "Wickedly funny and featuring plenty of gore, Zombieland is proof that the zombie subgenre is far from dead.

[62] Roger Ebert was surprised by Zombieland's ability to be significantly humorous while zombies remained the focus of the film, and felt that "all of this could have been dreary, but not here.

He credited Bill Murray's cameo appearance as receiving the "single biggest laugh" of the year and gave the film 3 out of 4 stars.

[66] Some reviewers saw deeper levels in the plot and cinematography; cinematographer Michael Bonvillain was praised for capturing "some interesting images amid the postapocalyptic carnival of carnage, as when he transforms the destruction of a souvenir shop into a rough ballet",[66] while Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com said, "the picture is beautifully paced" and highlighted "a halcyon middle section where, in what could be viewed as a sideways homage to Rebel Without a Cause, our rootless wanderers share a brief respite in an empty, lavish mansion".

[67] Claudia Puig of USA Today said, "underlying the carnage in Zombieland is a sweetly beating heart", and, "This road movie/horror flick/dark comedy/earnest romance/action film hybrid laces a gentle drollness through all the bloody mayhem".

[68] Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwarzbaum concluded, "At the bone, Zombieland is a polished, very funny road picture shaped by wisenheimer cable-TV sensibilities and starring four likable actors, each with an influential following".

[48] Time's Richard Corliss described the film as "an exhilarating ride, start to finish" and reasoned "Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg set a high bar for this subgenre with Shaun of the Dead, but Reese, Wernick, and Fleischer may have trumped them".

[72] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times classified the film as "[a] minor diversion dripping in splatter and groaning with self-amusement" and lamented the lack of a real plot more concrete than a series of comedy takes on zombie-slaying.

Due to the film's success, writers Reese and Wernick always planned a possible sequel, with many more ideas they wanted to explore.

[79] In August 2016, Reese and Wernick confirmed that they were working on Zombieland 2 and meeting with Woody Harrelson to discuss the film, while stating "all the cast is pretty excited.

In October 2011, it was reported that Fox Broadcasting Company and Sony Pictures were considering a television adaption of the series to be aired on CBS, with Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese writing the script, but with the main actors of the original film likely not returning.