Jonathan Levine is steadily piecing together his fourth film, the zombie romance Warm Bodies
, adding some of today's hottest young talent. The story takes place in an earth overrun by zombies, with Nicholas Hoult(About a Boy
, A Single Man
) starring as 'R', one of the undead suffering some sort of existential crisis. Teresa Palmer(I Am Number Four
) plays the girlfriend of one of R's victims, with the two forming some sort of weird relationship. Rob Corddry(Hot Tub Time Machine
) will provide some laughs as a fellow zombie, and John Malkovich brings a veteran presence as a General looking to end the zombie threat once and for all.Now Variety reports that Dave Franco(Fright Night), Analeigh Tipton(Crazy Stupid Love
), and Cory Hardrict(Battle: Los Angeles
) have joined the cast. Franco, the younger brother of James, has been building a solid career for himself but has yet to emerge from his bro's shadow. He'll play Palmer's boyfriend, who eventually joins the human resistance against the zombies. Tipton, last seen in Crazy Stupid Love, will be Palmer's best friend, trying to cope with her own budding emotions in the new zombie reality. Hardrict will be a dorky friend of Palmer's, also serving as Malkovich's right hand man. He's part of a small group of humans walled up in a safe area known as the "Green Zone". Hardrict is a cool dude, one of our most enjoyable interviews, and a rising star in the making if you ask me. Warm Bodies is based on the novel by Isaac Marion, and since the film version is coming at us via Summit Entertainment, expect this one to appeal heavily towards the Twilight
crowd. But one thing Levine has been very good at is tweaking established genres, so maybe he can bring something new and unexpected to the table. His next film, 50/50, hits theaters on September 30th and stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, and Anna Kendrick.
