(Credits: Far Out / Video Still)
Wed 22 October 2025 1:30, UK
Given the phase of her career she’s currently in, it’s easy to forget that Emma Stone used to do franchise movies. She played Gwen Stacy in both of the ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ films opposite Andrew Garfield, before succumbing to a heartbreaking, comic book-accurate death in the second one. She also lent her voice to a cavewoman in DreamWorks’ The Croods and its sequel, an oft-forgotten entry in her acclaimed and eclectic filmography.
One movie that nobody will be forgetting any time soon is the 2009 comedy-horror Zombieland. Set in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by undead flesh-munchers, the story follows four very different people drawn together by their desire to survive. Stone plays Wichita, a member of the group alongside Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). She was able to land the role by being really good at insults.
As soon as the movie became a hit, questions swirled around a possible sequel. Writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick have said they always intended to revisit the story. The pilot for a TV show was filmed and even aired on Amazon Video, but poor audience feedback put the kaibosh on a full series. Just when it seemed like the project was dead in the water, it unexpectedly rose from the grave.
In 2019, a decade after its predecessor hit screens, Zombieland: Double Tap was released to a great deal of fanfare. To everyone’s joy (and to a certain degree of surprise), all four of the original cast members returned for this follow-up, with a new character, Madison, being played by Zoey Deutch. While promoting the film, director Reuben Fleischer was asked by Entertainment Weekly about the possibility of a third instalment. He revealed that, while most of the key players were keen, it would depend on a few conditions.
“We have to see how this one’s received and if that’s something audiences would want, but I think we all had so much fun making this one, we’d be really lucky to get to return to Zombieland,” he said. “Although, I will say, Emma said, she thought it would be fun if we did one of these every 10 years. Knowing that Woody’s just the healthiest guy there is, he’s going to outlive all of us, and so we can just keep doing them every ten years, ‘til the end of time.”
A lot has changed with Stone’s career since the release of Double Tap. It came out the year after The Favourite, her first collaboration with director Yorgos Lanthimos. Since then, she has made three more movies with the Greek maverick, to the point where it feels like she won’t do anything unless he’s involved. Her output has also significantly slowed down recently, with 2025 being the first year she was in two new movies since 2016. It feels as if Stone has left movies like Zombieland behind.
There’s still hope for the future, though. Think about how much changed between 2009 and 2019 and how keen Stone was to return to the role of Wichita. It doesn’t seem likely right now, but there’s every chance we could see Stone starring in Zombieland 3 in 2029. If she’s not abducted by aliens first…
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