STXfilms is in the process of developing a film adaptation of Tencent’s popular action-comedy digital comics titled Zombie Brother with Academy Award winner Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, Love Actually) officially signing on for the leading role. The project currently has the tentative title of New York Will Eat You Alive which is set to be produced by Channing Tatum.
“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,” Chairman of the STXfilms Motion Picture Group, Adam Fogelson said in a statement. “From The King’s Speech to Kingsman, Colin always gives an Oscar-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.”
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Since 2011, the digital comic book has garnered more than 17 billion views over 348 episodes, and its animated series has attracted more than 3.7 billion views across its first two seasons. Created by Jia Haibo, the Zombie Brother franchise has also been adapted into a mobile game and a popular stage play, which has had a record-breaking run of sold-out shows across the region.
The film adaptation will be directed and executive produced by Todd Strauss-Schulson (The Final Girls) from a screenplay written by Alex Rubens with current revisions by Dan Gregor and Doug Man.
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STXfilms will distribute the film domestically and Tencent Pictures will distribute in China. Edward Cheng will be an executive producer with Channing Tatum, Reid Carolin, Free Association’s Peter Kiernan, and Above the Live Productions’ Ged Doherty set to produce. Howard Chen, Wenxin She, and Conor Zorn will produce and oversee for Tencent Pictures. Drew Simon, Patricia Braga, and Katie Zhao are set to oversee the project for STXfilms.
(Photo by George Pimentel/WireImage via Getty Images)
