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ZOMBIE BROADWAY: Dave Stewart Graphic Novel Gets Movie Treatment

Zombie Broadway

Dave Stewart’s Zombie Broadway to get big screen adaptation. Hey, hey! Can’t get enough Zombies, or do you think the market’s already overrun with undead multimedia? Rhetorical question – ’cause has some more! In what could be another “blame it on The Walking Dead” moment, word has come down that the 2008 Virgin imprint graphic novel, Zombie Broadway, by Eurythmics co-founder/ producer, David A. Stewart, is to be adapted for the big screen.

About Zombie Broadway:

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Created by David A. Stewart, David Harris, Christine Schenley, and illustrated by Daveki Neogi, Zombie Broadway tells the story of a zombie outbreak in New York City that can only be quelled by the song and dance of the Broadway stage (Stewart had planned on turning the concept into a musical). The human population of Manhattan has been decimated to the point where the only survivors are a few unlucky civilians and a bunch of stuck-up Broadway effites. The acting mayor (the others have been eaten or killed) of New York has convinced the President to try taming the zombies through theater before the ultimate resolution of dropping a nuclear bomb on the city. The story of Zombie Broadway takes the form of an ensemble black comedy, full of violence and humor.

Zombie Broadway was published in March 2008 by Virgin Comics. Recently, Virgin and Stewart began a Zombie Broadway karaoke contest, via YouTube, where contestants send videos of themselves singing the title song from the planned Broadway adaptation.

Alright, so there’s that. Full disclosure: I am not a fan of the zombie genre, and the whole Zombie Apocalypse obsession seems well overblown, to me (not to mention, being an effective smokescreen for what Skynet has planned for us). I do appreciate a well told tale, however, and works like The Walking Dead & Shaun of the Dead can be a breath of fresh air. Already being described as The Rocky Horror Picture Show meets Bullets Over Broadway, on the face of it, Zombie Broadway (if it doesn’t take itself too seriously) sounds like a send-up in the mold of… I don’t know – Buffy, the Vampire Slayer (episode: ‘Once More, with Feeling’ – if you hadn’t guessed). I say this with fingers & toes crossed, should I actually have to see this film, someday.

Of course, I have been a long time fan of the Eurythmics, so there is talent behind the work. For the film adaptation, there will be the added talents of Pam Williams & David Jacobson (The Butler), as producers, Cole Haddon (NBC’s Dracula) as script writer, and Jonas Akerlund (Spun, Horsemen, Spring Breakers 2) as director. Akerlund’s background as the director of music videos, for the likes of Madonna, Rammstein, and Lady Gaga, might be the real matchmaker for Stewart’s vision. In fact, it may have been his work for The Prodigy that first caught Stewart’s eye.

Dave Stewart on the collaboration:

My world revolves around music and film. I’ve always been obsessed with the idea of film married with a story and music. Jonas [Akerlund] has shot loads of music videos, but one of the first ones that caught my attention was ‘Smack My Bitch Up.’ I was not let down when I met him, not only with his wild imagination but his ability to execute his ideas under massive duress of time and budget.

Stewart is already a veteran of cross media adaptation. He has served as playwright, for a Barbarella musical, collaborated on music & lyrics, for Ghost: The Musical, provided film scores, and even won a Best Original Song Golden Globe (with Mick Jagger, for Alfie). Stewart will serve as executive producer for the Zombie Broadway film.

Leave your thoughts on the Zombie Broadway adaptation news, below, in the comments section. For more Zombie Broadway photos, videos, and information, visit our Zombie Broadway page, subscribe to us by Email, “follow” us on Twitter, Tumblr or “like” us on Facebook.

Source: Deadline, Wikipedia

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Sam Joseph

Sam is an Avid consumer/observer of Geek culture, and collector of Fanboy media from earliest memory. Armchair sociologist and futurist. Honest critic with satirical if not absurdist­­ wit with some experience in comics/ animation production.
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