PARANORNAL ACTIVITY Franchise Scripter Christopher Landon To Direct BOY SCOUTS VS ZOMBIES

The 2010 Black List was overrun by zombies, or more accurately overrun by screenplays about zombies. Interestingly, though, all three of the zombie scripts were comedies. One, Zombie Baby, took place after a zombie apocalypse, while another, Kitchen Sink, takes place in the middle of a zombie uprising that is interrupted by an invasion from outer space. But the third delivers its high concept to us right in the title – Boy Scouts Vs Zombies. And out of these three projects, Zombie Baby appears to be dead in the water (pun only slightly intended) while Kitchen Sink is working its way through post-production for a release on October 24, 2014.

Boy Scouts Vs Zombies, however, has been struggling to get in front of the cameras. The script by Carrie Evans and Emi Mochizuki was initially purchased by Paramount in Spetember 2010 for You Again helmer Andy Fickman to direct. Along the way, Fickman dropped out and comedy screenwriter Etan Cohen was attached to the project. But it looks as if Cohen has taken a hike as well, since it has been announced that Paranormal Activity vet Christopher Landon is the latest to try and bring the project to fruition.

Landon was the co-writer for the first Paranormal Activity sequel and then went on to solo script installments 3 and 4 before graduating to both writing and directing the Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones. His hiring seems to signal a possible shift in tone from a more comical take that someone like Fickman or Cohen would have brought to the material to a possible stronger emphasis on the horror elements in the story.

I had a chance to read the original script that was named to the Black List and despite its goofy premise, I found that there was a sweet coming-of-age story in the midst of all the shambling, undead shenanigans. Hopefully, that hasn’t been written out as the script has gone through development over the last three years.