Cool News
Zombie Beatles!! Zombie Beatles!! Zombie Beatles!!
Merrick here...
Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sherover at Double Features have optioned Alan Goldsher's forthcolming book PAUL IS UNDEAD. The novel...
...re-imagines the history of The Beatles--with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr re-cast as zombies.
Written as oral history, the book details how Lennon, a zombie guitarist in Liverpool, kills and reanimates McCartney, then does the same with Harrison and Starr. They create hits and bloody mayhem across the world, pursued by England's greatest zombie hunter, Mick Jagger. They also engage in a battle with Eighth Level Ninja Lord Yoko Ono, and snack on the brains of swooning fans.
...says Deadline HERE.
You know what? That's pretty amazing, actually - I'm all over this. I really wanna see the frantically horny hordes of grabby, possibly underaged girls chasing The Beatles down a corridor...or across...a park...a la HARD DAY'S NIGHT...only to have the Fab Four turn around and decimate them all 28 DAYS LATER style.
The book, which should be issued next month, is now up for pre-order HERE
.
--- Follow Merrick on Twitter! ---
Readers Talkback
comments powered by Disqus-
+ Expand All
-
Or does this sound incredibly stupid? Like Marvel Zombies stupid? But, hey what do I know. Thanks for yet another entry in the tireless campaign to run the very notion of the living dead right into the fucking ground.
-
Now how could a person not click on a thread title like that? However, I second the above opinion: IDEA IS TEH SUCK
-
Take a topic, add zombies, and WHOOPSIE FUCK IT'S SUDDENLY GENIUS WRITING. There is a Zombeatles tribute band on my area here, though. I thought this topic would make a reference to them.
-
...that sounds like an epic amount of suck.<P>I really liked it better when my beloved Zombies were a niche market and there were less than 10 true zombie movies, total.
-
May 10, 2010, 12:26 p.m. CST
The idea of combining historical figures and classic books
by Kirbymanly
with zombies/vampires was never funny to begin with.
-
A) Sounds like BS B) Get an original idea, this zombie reimagining crap is OLD C) Anyone think the Beatles would actually sign off on this? I'm pretty sure neither the band NOR the artist's names are public domain. This all sounds like garbage.
-
You really think this is a good idea? It sounds like shite to me.
-
I'm pretty sure this is the kind of shit I rant about when I'm drunk. Something that seems like a decent idea when sobriety isn't an issue. You want a fictionalized version of the Beatles story... how about they go over to India and encounter some crazy magical cult, somehow defeat them with their awesomeness, travel back in time, and incorporate aspects of their adventure into all their films. BAM. Better than fucking zombies.
-
no wiki article on the book
-
I don't think I could come up with an idea that was a lamer ploy for shock value attention-getting even if my name was Mark Millar.
-
That was a great book! The title and idea was goofy but the actual book was pretty amazing and at times very moving. If they can lose Burton and then get Cronenberg/Viggo attached, then we'd be talking cinematic genius to match the material.
-
Sounds very World War Z. I liked World War Z, though, and there's not THAT much material like it out there. Not sure why talkbackers are so up in arms. You guys really hate everything, don't you?
-
What a joke
-
...with the naked eye. <p> <p>
-
NEEDS to be in THIS!!!
-
That's what passes for wit with you, the 800th variation on this ubiquitous concept? Hey I got an idea, let's remake Shakespeare's greatest plays... only with zombies! Let's remake The Wizard of Oz... with zombies! Let's retell the King Arthur legend... with a zombie round table! Look at me, I'm creative!
-
I haven't read any of the others, but "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" was surprisingly good, honestly the best horror book I've read in years. And I emphasize horror -- it was not played for laughs AT ALL, beyond the cover art. It was very dark. That said, the trend is old.
-
in EVERY zombie movie.
-
It was bad enough reading the description of the book, but when the mention of Jagger and Ono came up, it pushed the idea deep into the realm of fetid ass.
-
May 10, 2010, 12:43 p.m. CST
I can't believe someone gets paid for shit like this.
by The_Maltese_Vulcan
The only thing worse is the stupidity of the buyer.
-
There used to be very few zombie movies, but most of them were great. This has to be too stupid to get made.
-
That's just what we need: An undead John lennon and a bunch of jokes about him having a bullet hole the estate should sue to prevent this ever being made it's soooooooo wrong
-
...and " you never go full retard".
-
are a band. Kinda funny, but it got old really quick. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP6nYs9Il7c
-
I don't care if Lennon was murdered nearly 30 years ago. When it comes to the matter of his image, and the images of his bandmates, being screwed with to line the pockets of some untalented hack, it will always be TOO SOON.
-
How often does this type of movie ever get made? People buy the rights and then, for whatever reason, the project dies. So even though this movie seems to be thriving on a stale concept (which is not a story), it will wither and die. So no worries there.
-
really fucking stupid. Like, incredibly stupid. How could anyone think this was a good idea?
-
I'd much rather see Hard Day's Night of the Living Dead than read that novel.<p> Sounds like yet ANOTHER rip off of Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.
-
I mean, what the fuck? OK - it might make for a good pulp comic book, but no way could I ever back this as a movie.
-
...you are wrong about this particular book.<p> P&P&Z is genius because they actually change VERY LITTLE of the original novel. As such, it's really a way to give Jane Austen a wider audience.<p> But when the zombies (or seamonsters, or vampires, or whatever) OVERSHADOW the original source material, I think THAT'S when the gimmick becomes exploitative.<p> Any writer who tries this sort of book needs to do A LOT of research about the source material and the times in which it was written.<p> Not EVERY book can be zombiefied successfully.
-
You said it -- way to fuck up a cool idea. Zombies have been overdone. In movies, comics, books. DONE! Now what happens? Vampires?
-
. . .to make an account to tell you how much you suck at spelling english words. Long time reader, but seriously, I think one read through would catch "forthcolming". As for this shit idea, it's shit!
-
...the zombies serve to fill plot holes in the original story. Like, why are the soldiers camped out in the town? In the original, the only reason they are there is to provide the Bennett girls with some targets for wedlock.<p> Adding zombies gives the reader a decent reason for the soldiers to be present.
-
Seriously, you need shirtless faggots if you're wanting to reel in the big bucks. Zombies and the Beatles won't do it alone. Obviously this is the dumbest fucking idea in history.
-
Could this be the worst idea in the history of bad ideas? I'm speechless at just how shitty that premise is.
-
Ringo will probably offer to play himself.
-
I've had this favored on youtube for at least 2 years.
-
As in, "someone had to be high to come up with this idea. I love it!
-
As in, "someone had to be high to come up with this idea." I love it!
-
"Amazing - Im all over this"<p> Merrick you should be ashamed.<p> Tasteless and retarded beyond belief. If the 'good folks' at Double Features are reading this thread to try and get some early feedback then pls DONT DO THIS.
-
May 10, 2010, 1:19 p.m. CST
completely agree with royston about Pride and Prejudice and zomb
by exador
Royston Lodge is absolutely 100% correct in his assessment of the pride/prejudice book...the zombie moments in it are woven into the plot so well, its rather seamless...I've read a few since then, and none have had the same effect on me as that one...and i believe that it was the fact that barely anything was changed from the original story...a few nudges and additions here and there made all the difference....a 100% fantastic book...can't wait for teh movie.... :)
-
Burton is brightly-colored dark. This book is just plain dark.
-
Seriously, it doesnt have sense, is like if I maade a movie about presidents turning into vampires, and the only capable man is Obama. See thats shit
-
The most fucktarded, mentally drug-addled bullshit idea possible.
-
sounded cool.
-
May 10, 2010, 1:36 p.m. CST
I do so hope they get sued, if they didn't get permission
by MobileAccess
It just seems like a lame and lazy way of getting your writing project pre-sold or whatever. Take a pre-existing money-making cultural phenomenon, The Beatles, co-opt it for your own purposes by putting a spin on it, in this case zombification. There you go, even if you get a tiny % of Beatles fans interested, you've got yourself a hit. I suppose it's ok do it with people who are long dead or works and characters that are public domain a la League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but these are people who are still alive and with family members who are still alive. Just seems like a big cash grab.
-
AICN, where is the story?
-
After Blackest Night, I am Zombied out. Twilight is killing Vamps and Werewolves as well.
-
I'd rather see an imaginitive take on the "Paul is Dead" legend than any of this "Undead" twaddle.
-
Just, no.
-
Would love to see his father lurching around as a corpse eating people's fucking brains.</p><p>Fucking christ!
-
...is that it became far too popular for its own good. It was a clever, silly and funny idea that should have stayed very cult-favorite and underground. By gaining some mainstream attention and success, it only served to: 1.) Spawn a ton of terrible clones that were half as intelligent as the original material and didn't get the joke in the first place. 2.) Draw in too many moron fans who were, also, half as intelligent as the original material and didn't get the joke in the first place, who only managed to ... 3.) Create a backlash among the original fans, effectively turning them into, as the interneters might say, "haters." This idea sounds terrible. But perhaps I'm just drinking Haterade. Or eating Hater Tots.
-
...and it's actually pretty hilarious. It's nothing like P&P&Z, or any of the other zombie/vampire mashups I've seen. Hold fire until you check it out.
-
Who ya got?!!
-
You know how those cooky those hXc Beatles fans are, and the Beatles weren't even that good. I expect some of the 'tards to get really pissy about this if it comes to fruition. It does sound pretty cool, and it's one of the only ways the Beatles can seem interesting to me.
-
how the movie industry drops dead from lack of creativity and comes back as a shambling, mindless version of its former self...
-
Success of that turd "Pride/Prejudice/Zombies" is to blame.
-
John as a vampire Paul as a werewolf George as a mummy and Ringo as Frankenstein's Monster. They could sing re-hashed Beatlesque versions of Groovie Goolie songs.
-
Though Keef would be my number one choice for that role. Imagine him smashing in Paul's head with his vintage Fender. Then smoking a cheeky spliff.
-
Just a way for talentless hack writers to profit off of other people's creations.
-
I was in Borders the other day and was stunned by the breadth of newly available stuff like mentioned above in the Zombie Beatles. I'd seen the one about Abraham Lincoln and Little Women, but there seems to be an absolute gluttony of the subject matter. Good thing too. Now, if we can just get World War Z on the screen sooner than, say, by the time I finish typing this...
-
Yeah, I'd so watch this, especially if they do it as a faux-doumentary
-
...is that if it had stayed a little cult phenomenon insteaf of taking off and making money, then Quirk Classics (the publisher) wouldn't have bothered to do more (Sense & Sensibility & Seamonsters and the forthcoming Android Karanina).<p> Sure, S&S&S isn't as good as P&P&Z, but it's still really good. And I have faith that Quirk Classics learned from the errors of S&S&S and won't repeat those errors in AK.<p> Sure, I don't like the copycats, but Quirk Classics does it well. Without the success, they wouldn't have kept the concept going.<p> Sorta like, if A New Hope hadn't taken off then SURE we wouldn't have had to endure the awful Buck Rogers, Galactica '80, and myriad low-budget ripoffs, but we also wouldn't have gotten Empire Strikes Back.<p> That's not a trade-off that I'd want to make.
-
The hero of the story? I don't think that would go down very well. <BR><BR>Would Charles Manson be a Prophet or something? <BR><BR> This smells like a bad idea.
-
...how some people can come up with such ridiculous ideas for stories and get paid a boatload of money for it. Bravo, gentlemen.
-
I'm imagining something in the style of Capricorn One, where Paul actually IS dead and the powers-that-be have to cover it up. John Lennon is killed, of course, because he was threatening to spill the beans.
-
May 10, 2010, 3:56 p.m. CST
I still say that Quirk Classics' next title should be...
by Royston Lodge
...A Tale of Two Cities Under Siege by Martians.<p> Although, James Joyce's Ulysses vs. Illuminati would also have potential.
-
C'mon? A movie? Bullshit. Comic book maybe, fair enough. Do you really think McCartney and the estate of George Harrison (ie his cash-hungry multi-millionaire son Dahni) are EVER going to sign off on a movie portraying them as flesh-eating maniacs??? Seriously. Even if they thought it was a cool idea (it isn't, by the way) there isn't enough money in the WORLD to buy their tacit agreement.
-
is disappointed at being left out.
-
This is either the best idea ever or the worst fucking stupid idea in the history of cinema. Could be fun either way, though.
-
I'm getting really sick of respectable, cherished things being sullied by lazy stupid people. I LOVE Zombies and zmobie movies but this is bullshit. Ugh
-
But then it's not Twilight related, so it has that going for it.
-
back when I was in high school in 1970. Yes, it was a gag on the Paul Is Dead rumor and shows a Zombie Paul. So I'll be expecting my check in the mail for this concept.
-
a MOVIE? Not so much
-
A zombie movie where the dead come back to life and they get slowly get healthy and well and they crave vegetables. It's the living who start to rot and get sick and die and crave flesh, and I want to see Romero make it. Like a reverse dead bad, living good flick. Where the living are bad and the dead are good. Where the dead are logical and the living are utterly madness and single minded.
-
are they ghosts? or are they zombies? I think asking for both is a little greedy.....If the ghostbuster all died ,and came back ,not as ghosts, but as zombies that hunt ghosts, then i guess that would be ok.(but not for ghostbusters 3)
-
As in f***ing stupid.
-
And I'm not even a beatles fan.
-
isn´t that the twilight movies? :)
-
May 10, 2010, 6:36 p.m. CST
Admit it, you'd read THESE books (if they actually existed)...
by Royston Lodge
...these are NOT coming soon, unfortunately. They are merely the product of my diseased mind: <p> A TALE OF TWO CITIES UNDER SIEGE BY MARTIANS - Charles Dickens classic novel set in London and Paris before and during the Martian invasion that sets off the French Revolution. It depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy's inability to protect the land from the marauding Martians in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the surviving aristocrats in the early years of the revolutionary Martian war, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during its own struggle against invaders from another world. <p> ULYSSES vs. ILLUMINATI: James Joyce's classic novel chronicles the passage of Leopold Bloom through Dublin during a (seemingly) ordinary day, 16 June 1904. However, unbeknownst to Bloom the strange events, mysteries and puzzles he encounters over the course of the day are actually evidence of a sinister master plan set in place by the secretive and powerful Illuminati! Will Bloom discover the plot, or will he succumb to the Illuminati agents who are tailing him secretly? <p> THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN IN THE LAND OF THE DINOSAURS: Mark Twain's classic novel about the drifting journey of Huck and his friend Jim, a runaway slave, on their raft through a dimensional vortex which places them on a river in a strange land of prehistoric lizards and giant insects (as well the human-like individuals they encounter), may be one of the most enduring images of escape, freedom and inter-dimensional survival in all of American science fiction literature. <p> (If the racist language in Huck Finn proves too difficult, the "journey and escape from another dimension" concept could always be applied to any other classic travelogue/road story:) <p> HEART OF INTERDIMENSIONAL DARKNESS - Joseph Conrad's classic novel tells the harrowing tale of Charles Marlow, an Englishman employed to captain a trading boat in deepest Africa. However, his more pressing assignment is to return Kurtz, another trader, to civilization, in a cover-up. The problem is, Kurtz has travelled through an interdimensional vortex into a strange alien world, a journey which has driven him mad! <p> MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY THROUGH THE TIME VORTEX - The crew of HMS Bounty mutiny against the cruel Captain Bligh after the ship travels through a time vortex which sends them far into the future!
-
May 10, 2010, 6:44 p.m. CST
Who says you have to use fiction for the source material!
by Royston Lodge
THE VOYAGE OF THE STARSHIP BEAGLE - The true story of Charles Darwin's second survey expedition on board Her Majesty's Starship HMS Beagle, which launched from Plymouth Starport on 27 December 1831 under the command of Captain Robert FitzRoy. While the expedition was originally planned to last two years, it lasted almost five. The Beagle did not return until 2 October 1836. Darwin spent most of this time exploring the strange planets of our solar system and documenting the bizarre alien fauna - leading to his discovery of the Theory of XenoEvolution.
-
Fucking yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-
Talk about a light snack!
-
Oh, wait, I just flushed it.
-
I was gonna say the last original idea in Hollywood went swirlin' down the bowl, but ya beat me to it.<p>And yours was funnier.<p>Curse you!!!
-
If Paul Rudd is in it, and Mick Jagger plays himself
-
They get Steven Tyler to play Mick Jagger
-
Though I like the idea of eighth level Yoko Ono ninja, the rest of this is just a horribly stupid idea. This smacks of desperation of not coming up the idea of Lesbian Vampire killers.
-
Until there is nothing left!
-
Anytime anyone comes up with the brilliant idea to make zombies play guitars, it makes me wish that person were transported to a real zombie movie to see how zombies are really supposed to act. I'd love to slap this bitch author silly, and Merrick too for encouraging this sort of fucked up bullshit that makes people hate the zombie genre. Fuck you Alan Goldsher, you fucking hack writer.
-
Paul Rudd as John, Justin Long as, well you seen Dewey Cox. No limit to what you can, imagine.
-
May 10, 2010, 8:39 p.m. CST
Royston, a time traveling Huck Finn's been done already
by OutsideChance
By Hanna Barbera in the 60s: http://tinyurl.com/56u4z5
-
You know,I was happy with my weekly zombie intake. Now I find them added to everything. It's like they're being pushed on us by infomercial salesmen. Does your fruit punch lack zip? Just add Zombie! Bored by classic literature? A dash of zombie will turn that frown upside down! Tired with the same old Beatles? Zombie! Zombie! Zombie! Fuck...knock it off.
-
and Ive been f***ing like a dogg...BRAIIAIAIAIAINNNSSZZ
-
Look. the zombie movie line, is pun intended...DEAD. Honestly. You want to do a good zombie picture.. Make it fucking epic. Spend more then 20k on the dam thing and avoid all the old storylines of a last group of survivors, or in the aftermath of the zombie armageddon. SHOW THE FUCKING ZOMBIE ARMAGEDDON. i have yet to see 1 fucking film that shows the world wide zombie armageddon on a grand scale. its always some dumbass waking up after it, or some small town version of it. DO A LARGE SCALE ZOMBIE MOVIE WITH ZOMBIES FUCKING UP THE STREETS OF MANHATTAN! and the army roles in with tanks and choppers and bombs the shit out of them. ALSO, cant we get some skeletal zombies for a change? Im so sick of the "Fresh dead" zombie look which is just some guy or gal in makeup. I want modern style ARMY OF DARKNESS like zombies. Skeletal zombies of fallen warriors from hundreds and thousands of years ago. Also why do all the zombies gota be bad guys? Honestly? So the act of dying, and coming back in a reanimated body instantly makes you a bad guy? Why cant we have good zombies too? Not dumb "mmm brains" type, but just warrior zombies who kick ass and just happen to be dead!
-
and be kinda cool. Beatles-no. I have to jump on the hate bandwagon and just say no. Not cool at all.
-
http://tinyurl.com/5np3mt<p> Is that so complicated?
-
Seriously, fuck that!
-
This stupid fucking idea sounds like it was conceived by someone who knows nothing about zombies, and even less about the Beatles. It's like those bad SNL skits written by kids who only have a recent pop-culture understanding of the subject.
-
I mean seriously...
-
This has be done over a quarter century ago wtf.
-
making this about another hit-making British Invasion band: The Zombies! Know why? The fuckheads behind this idea don't even know a '60s British band called The Zombies existed, and there won't even be a joking reference to them in the book or film.
-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/weheartjohnny/3555584850/in/set-72157617526882811/
-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/weheartjohnny/3555584850/in/set-72157617526882811/
-
http://tinyurl.com/28kamku
-
please?
-
and the most overrated group ever
-
Go back to your Justin Bieber Twitter posts and leave the music discussion for the adults, all right?
-
The comics were pretty stupid, but fun as hell. That would be a fucking fantastic film! never gonna happen of course, at least not until Marvel gets all the rights back. They could get Fantastic 4 soon, but Spidey and X-Men are gone for a long time.
-
Was Verhoeven's catch phrase for how shallow and stupid popular culture would become in the future. I think the man is a huge jerk, but in this one thing he was prescient.
-
They suck...<p>Party on!
-
This sounds like an extremely stupid idea. Like another poster already said, If they were vampires then I'd be intrigued. Intelligent zombies just don't work.
-
That I could probably go for, in a "I'll Netflix it", Six String Samurai sort of way. This idea? This idea sounds like something found MadTV writers' office trash can.
-
When it's so fucking obvious that it's a joke series?
-
The time is right.
-
And not because they're reanimated either, har har. Leave well enough alone - the little parody in "Walk Hard" was enough, thanks.
-
May 20, 2010, 12:26 p.m. CST
The "literary remix" genre is getting so established that...
by Royston Lodge
...there are now contests for people to write the best remix.<p> I don't know who decided that the genre was so big now that it needed a name, but "Literary Remix" seems to be the semi-official choice.<p> Here's a link to the contest page:<p> http://tinyurl.com/2efhxj5
Top Talkbacks
- Spoilery early review of MAN OF STEEL!! -- 478 total posts 60 posts
- Capone believes that FAST & FURIOUS 6 is the best in a bizarre, crowded franchise!!! -- 124 total posts 58 posts
- Beware Epileptics - we have a new motion poster for the upcoming remake of CARRIE! -- 100 total posts 40 posts
- New trailer for Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara's upcoming western, AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS!! -- 71 total posts 30 posts
- Capone makes the case that THE HANGOVER PART III is neither a comedy nor a movie!!! -- 82 total posts 23 posts
- The Friday Docback Revisits DOCTOR WHO Season 7!! A Fuller Review Of 'The Name of the Doctor,' And More!! -- 97 total posts 22 posts
-
HERCULES ON THE RADIO!!
Learn What Ain’t It Cool’s TV Critic Thinks About The New WOLVERINE Trailer, Soderbergh’s CANDELABBRA, FURIOUS 6, HANGOVER III, EPIC, GAME OF THRONES, MAD MEN And More!! Listen And Call In LIVE Saturday 8pm PT/11pm ET!! -- 22 total posts 22 posts - Jim Jarmusch's vampire flick ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE gets picked up for U.S. distribution by Sony Pictures Classics!! -- 34 total posts 20 posts
- Harry dives into STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS' spoilers to reveal the truth behind the blockbuster we're seeing! -- 1491 total posts 20 posts
- Capone says the stunning 3-D visuals elevate the standard-issue plot of EPIC!!! -- 46 total posts 19 posts