Every upcoming film project featuring a young cast shoots for the same handful of up and coming stars. You’ve heard names like Blake Lively, Emma Roberts, Jennifer Lawrence and Olivia Wilde rumored for virtually every new movie in development, and Aussie Teresa Palmer is right up in those ranks as well. After a big year in which she released films like The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and I Am Number Four, Palmer is currently searching for a role to fill up her 2011 work schedule and The Hollywood Reporter thinks she may have found it.
Warm Bodies, the zombie romance that Summit Entertainment is producing and Jonathan Levine (The Wackness, upcoming 50/50) will direct, has already landed rising star Nicholas Hoult as its undead protagonist and now it looks like he’ll be joined by Palmer. The story follows an existentially tormented zombie named R that begins an unlikely friendship with the human girlfriend (Palmer) of one of his victims. The blossoming relationship starts a chain reaction that will transform him, his fellow zombies and maybe the whole lifeless world. Palmer’s character is said to be the daughter of a military leader who is tired of the war with the zombies, and if that doesn’t bring to mind another zombie project in development (Paramount, Marc Foster and Brad Pitt’s World War Z adaptation), then you must’ve had your brains eaten out.
Described as cross between Twilight (boo!) and Shaun of the Dead (yay!), Warm Bodies can go either way. With a healthy dose of hipster humor, I can see the film exploring the limitations of love in a fresh and interesting way. Levine must make sure to balance the tone properly without dipping too deep into melodrama. I’ve heard good things about his cancer dramedy 50/50, which hits theaters this September, so I think that he’s capable of hitting the appropriate comedic and romantic beats naturally. The only thing left to determine is the chemistry between Palmer and Hoult, which will have to be smoking hot to sell this unorthodox relationship to audiences.
Source: THR
