NEW YORK WILL EAT YOU ALIVE: Colin Firth Set to Star in Tencent’s Adaptation of Zombie Brother

Colin Firth Set to Star in New York Will Eat You Alive

STXFilms and Tencent Pictures have signed on Colin Firth to star in the tentatively titled New York Will Eat You Alive, the zombie action comedy based on the comic Zombie Brother.

Todd Strauss-Schulson — known for Isn’t It Romantic — is attached to direct, and the film will be co-produced by Tencent, STXfilms, Channing Tatum, Reid Carolin, and Peter Kiernan’s Free Association, as well as Ged Doherty of Above The Line Productions. Edward Cheng — CEO of Tencent and China Literature — and Strauss-Schulson will serve as executive producers. Conor Zorn and Wenxin She are producing for Tencent with Drew Simon overseeing the production for STXFilms alongside Patricia Braga and Katie Zhao.

Alex Rubens wrote the film’s screenplay with revisions done by Dan Gregor and Doug Mand. Originally created by Jia Haibo, Zombie Brother is one of the top titles in Tencent’s digital comics library. The comic is said to have been viewed over 28 billion times, and its animated series has been viewed 3.7 billion times over its first two seasons. The comic has also been adapted into a stage play.

The announcement was made on November 6th by Cheng and Adam Fogelson, the Chairman of the STXfilms Motion Picture Group.

In his press statement Fogelson said, “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.” He added “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.”

STX Films will distribute the film in the UK and the United States via its international exhibition partners, while Tencent will handle the distribution in China.

An Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA winner for his performance in The King’s Speech (2010), Firth most recently starred in STX Films’s adaptation of The Secret Garden (2020), playing Archibald Craven. The actor’s upcoming projects include Supernova, alongside Stanley Tucci, Operation Mincemeat from director John Madden — known for directing Shakespeare in Love — and Mothering Sunday along with Olivia Colman and Odessa Young.

Firth is represented by Independent Talent and CAA.

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