(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
Tue 28 October 2025 5:00, UK
Over the past decade or so, Woody Harrelson‘s recognisable visage has been a part of some legendary franchises like Solo: A Star Wars Story, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, War for the Planet of the Apes, and more, with history stretching back decades, but he’s only ever joined them partway.
He rarely plays a character in the first film and then reprises it later on, which, in an era where it seems like everything is a sequel or a reboot, is highly unusual, and may have something to do with Zombieland.
Released in 2009, this comedy horror romp is set in a world taken over by infected people turning into undead monsters and follows four strangers who form an unlikely family dynamic in this post-apocalyptic wasteland, trying to retain their humanity. Harrelson, who had some very strange demands before signing onto the film, plays Tallahassee, a gun-toting redneck who loves killing zombies almost as much as he loves Twinkies and is a big-ol’ softie at heart.
In an interview with Fangoria in 2016, writer Paul Wernick was asked about the potential of a follow-up to the cult hit, and he explained that, while there were no concrete plans for a sequel at the time, there was definitely support for one among the cast: “We would love it, and everybody involved creatively wants to do another one Woody Harrelson came up to us after the final cut of the last scene and gave us a hug and said, ‘I’ve never wanted to do a sequel in the previous movies I’ve done until this one.’”
A quick look at Harrelson’s pre-2009 output proves that he really wasn’t the biggest fan of sequels, with all of his major movies being standalone features, so while the Cheers actor didn’t even have to think about returning for another go around, Zombieland clearly changed his opinion on the matter, as the next few years saw him break this embargo.
He appeared in all The Hunger Games and Now You See Me, both of which have received numerous sequels over the years, with the third follow-up to the latter, Now You See Me, Now You Don’t, set to be released late 2025. On the other hand, Harrelson wasn’t the only cast member eager to revisit the zombie pandemic, with Emma Stone declaring she would like to keep reprising her role for as long as possible.
Thus, a decade after the first film hit screens, Zombieland: Double Tap returned in 2019 with all four of the main cast on board, as well as director Reuben Fleischer and writers Wernick and Rhett Reese all working on the project, making it a rare full-house. When compared to other sequels that had been gestating for a similar amount of time to disappointing results, the fact that most of the key players are enraptured by the franchise might explain why the film was so well-received, and maybe you can expect to see Zombieland 6 announced for 2059.
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