Chevy Chase And Dan Aykroyd To Reunite For R.L. Stine Adaptation Zombie Town
R.L. Stine fans, rejoice! We seem to be the middle of a renaissance for projects based on the writing of "The Stephen King of Kids Horror." Thanks to the popularity of Leigh Janiak's terrific "Fear Street" film trilogy, Netflix is reported to be cooking up even more movies based on Stine's slasher-mystery property. There's also a new live-action "Goosebumps" TV show in development at Disney+, which is already home to the lesser-known but genuinely sturdy "Just Beyond" anthology inspired by Stine's genre-blending graphic novel series of the same name.
Elsewhere, shooting is now underway on "Zombie Town," a film based on yet another one of Stine's horror books for younger readers. Published in 2012, the novel follows 12-year-old friends Mike and Karen as they head out to see the titular zombie flick in a theater, only for movie's brain-hungry monsters to lurch off the screen and begin wreaking havoc on their unsuspecting town. Production on "Zombie Town" is taking place in Ontario, with a cast that also includes Henry Czerny, Marlon Kazadi, Madi Monroe, Scott Thompson, and Bruce McCulloch.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, former "Saturday Night Live" co-stars Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase have also joined the "Zombie Town" ensemble in as-yet-unknown roles. Canadian animation veteran Peter Lepeniotis ("Surly Squirrel," "The Nut Job") is calling the shots on the film as director, drawing from a script he had a hand in co-writing.
The Spies Like Us reunion you weren't expecting
Aykroyd and Chase both got their start on "SNL" in the 1970s, paving the way to their film careers starting in the '80s. They would later share the screen in the box office hit "Spies Like Us," a 1985 spy comedy that Aykroyd also co-wrote. The pair have also co-starred in movies like "Caddyshack II" and "Nothing but Trouble," both of which were seen as real stinkers upon their initial release. That doesn't exactly bode well for their reunion on "Zombie Town." But hey, times change, and it's probably for the better that Chase in particular only has a smaller role anyway (given his off-screen reputation for being, well, a big ol' jerk).
Executive producers on "Zombie Town" include Trimuse Entertainment, Toonz Media Group, Lookout Entertainment, Viva Pictures, and "Sons of Anarchy" actor Kim Coates. This one looks to be geared towards a younger crowd than the likes of "Fear Street," which is perfectly fine. For decades, Stine's books have served as a gateway to adult horror for many a young reader. Perhaps this film will do the same for the next generation of horror cinephiles in the making.
"Zombie Town" will premiere in theaters before streaming on Hulu in 2023.