Oscar-winning actor Colin Firth is making the leap into the horror genre having joined an upcoming zombie flick, which is currently tentatively titledNew York Will Eat You Alive. The STXfilms and Tencent Pictures action-comedy will be based on the digital comicZombie Brothercreated by Jia Haibo.
“We always wanted to cast this in a way that would give life to the source material and elevate the action and you can’t achieve that goal any better than hiring Colin Firth,” Adam Fogelson, Chairman of the STXfilms Motion Picture Group said in a statement. “From The King’s Speech to Kingsman, Colin always gives anOscar-caliber performance. We’re thrilled to be reuniting with him on New York Will Eat You Alive in a role that will allow him to have fun while showcasing his deadpan humor and comic timing.”
Zombie Brotherstarted in 2011 as a serialized comic, before being made into an animated series which aired in 2013. The story is set in City H, a place where the water supply has been contaminated by an ancient coffin. People who drink the water are turned into “Zombie Brothers” who must eat others to evolve. The main character an insular, ordinary boy who is forced to step out of his comfort zone and into the big, wide,zombie-infested worldin order to find his missing girlfriend.
Todd Strauss-Schulson, whose previous credits include the romantic comedyIsn’t It Romanticand the adventure comedy sequelA Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, is attached to direct the adaptation, which is being co-produced by Tencent, STXfilms, Channing Tatum, Reid Carolin, and Peter Kiernan’s Free Association, and Ged Doherty of Above The Line Productions.
While the studio is clearly very excited about having Firth on board, his involvement is rather surprising considering his usual cinematic output. Having won an Academy Award for his role in the historical dramaThe King’s Speechas well as being nominated for his performance inA Single Man, Firth is best known for appearing in dramatic, often quite dour movies includingGirl with a Pearl Earring,The Railway Man, and the spy thrillerTinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Of course,Colin Firthhas been known for dabbling in comedy with the likes ofBridget Jones’s DiaryandMamma Mia!.New York Will Eat You Aliveis also far from Firth’s first foray into the world of comic books, with the actor having starred as secret agent Harry Hart in both installments of director Matthew Vaughn’s action franchiseKingsman: The Secret ServiceandKingsman: The Golden Circle.
Firth’s role inKingsmanwas equally as perplexing as his role inNew York Will Eat You Alive, but he turned out to be one of the best things about the movie. Speaking about joining the franchise back in 2015, Firth’s words could easily be applied to his role in the upcomingzombie comedy. “One of the things that makes you want to be an actor, speaking only for myself, is that there’s something infantile about it,” he said.
“You’re suspending disbelief, pretending and entering into a story world. If you’re going to do the kind of movies that show a harsh mirror to reality, that probably wasn’t what you were in it for when you were little, but this is. This is like stepping into the shoes of the people that were your heroes, growing up. I feel like that was in mind, when this was being created. It was the stuff that we loved when we were kids and we fell in love with cinema.” This comes to us fromDeadline.
