Nope, it’s not that Rodriquez, but rather Eduardo Rodriquez that has signed on to direct the zombie film Fragile.
Based on the graphic novel by Stephano Raffaele, story kicks off after an airborne virus has reduced much of the Earth’s population to feral zombies. A recently undead soldier then teams with a female zombie and a human teenager, racing against time to find a cure before being hunted down by the soldier’s former military unit.
According to Rodriguez, the film isn’t set in a world where zombies are monsters.
Okay, now that sounds totally strange. I can see the dialogue now.
Soldier Zombie: Uhhhh… must eat brains…
Human Girl: Stop that!
Female Zombie: Brains!
Human Girl: I said stop! We have to find a cure, and right now, I’m the only one who’s brain isn’t rotting.
Soldier Zombie: Brains?
Human Girl: okay, maybe just a nibble. But remember, I’m not 18 yet.
Female Zombie: Oh, Soldier Zombie, you so cute and cuddly.
Soldier Zombie: Hee Hee
No word on the release date for the film.
Has anyone read this graphic novel? Does it work as a film? This story gives me hope for my Zombie/Kung-fu/Western film I’ve been plotting in my head for the last couple of years.
4 Comments
Stephen, you really need to write that idea down before somebody steals it, really. Because it will be…it will be.
“The Good, the Dead, and the Shaolin” must be made.
Mark I: I have no doubt the idea has already been stolen as I’ve blabbed about it for at least two years on my various websites.
Essentially it goes like this:
Two guys ride into town, one white, the other asian. The town is one of those border towns (could be along the Mexican territory, or Indian frontier) similar to Deadwood, but 10 times worse. The town is actually made up of a diverse population of various races, indicating it happens after the Civil War. This also takes place at a time when magic is still “real”.
The two leads encounter a group of “bad fellows” who have no problem killing anyone and anything, and the leads are powerless to stop villains from killing a young Indian boy in front of his aged grandfather. The old Indian curses the own and its inhabitants saying they will not live to see morning.
Later that night, a huge thunderstorm boils up as we see a hand burst through a grave at the town’s Boot Hill. The dead have risen and their are going to kill everything in sight!
The town must then combat zombies (imagine every western stereotype) and each other in order to survive the night.
blah blah blah… throw in many kung-fu fights, a love interest for both leading men, the bad guys getting their just reward at the end, and the town being saved at the last minute by some powerful majiks, and you have gold Jerry, gold!
I seriously see Bruce Campbell (40 lbs lighter) and Jet Li (in full on Fung Sai Yuk mode) as the two leads, with Ziyi Zhang as one of the love interests.
The film is a horror/action/comedy as you might expect. In one scene one of the leads if fighting an undead and pulls its arm off – the bad thing is the arm and the undead keep fighting the good guy.
I’d push for a hard R even if that means a drop in box office.