Zombie Slash

Needless to say, we’re totally psyched that Natalie Portman will produce and star in the upcoming Pride and Prejudice and Zombies film.

Here’s a quick Six-Degrees to Jane Austen: Natalie Portman played Queen Amidala in Star Wars, Episode I, in which Kiera Knightly played Sabe, who dressed as the queen. Kiera Knighly also played Elizabeth Bennet (the lead character) in the 2005 movie version of Pride and Prejudice. Not to mention, Natalie Portman totally kicks ass. Perfect casting, right?

Update, 12/3/09, 12:50PM: Our suspicions that this report was a little shady are confirmed. Author Seth Grahame-Smith confirms that the rumor is false and the adaptation of P&P&Z is to be a feature film. Either way, we are still hoping for some parody of the BBC miniseries — possibly the infamous lake scene? [The original post follows.]

According to reports based on the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Twitter feed, the zombie-romance-classic mashup will be adapted into a 6-part miniseries. As P&P&Z fans, we can’t wait to see this Regency-ninja-zombie thing done right!

The miniseries will evidently be produced by Deadline Productions, which seems relatively legit. We are, however, calling the report unconfirmed, since we’re unsure of the Twitter page’s authenticity. But IMDB and P&P&Z author Seth Grahame-Smith have mentioned a P&P&Z adaptation, and the Twitter page does have some pretty great concept art (as seen on the left of this post) — so, we’re going to go ahead and celebrate.

Anyone who is a fan of P+P-Z (i.e., the original Pride and Prejudice) knows that the most beloved adaptation is the 6-part 1995 Pride and Prejudice BBC miniseries starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.

This begs the question of whether the miniseries will be produced as a parody of the much-loved BBC miniseries. We say, bring on the critical disdain!

Related: Check out our review of P&P&Z and our other P&P&Z-related posts.

Ah, Michael Jackson. You were the king of pop zombie music videos. Thriller was classic. We’d miss you if we weren’t worried about your undead corpse eating our brains. Thank you for making Thriller, though. Now we know what we should be looking out for.

It appears that you can keep an eye on Zombie Michael Jackson by following @ZombJacko on Twitter (fortunately, we cannot claim credit for this account).

A couple of months ago we told you about a lecture given by Dr. Steven C. Schlozman, a Harvard psychiatrist and zombie enthusiast, covering zombie neuroscience and psychology. Unfortunately no one here at Zombie Slash could attend, but thankfully someone did and took extensive notes. We suggest that you take a look. Maybe this zombie thing isn’t so far fetched.

An interesting side note is that Schlozman drafted a faux medical journal article about a zombie outbreak, called “Ataxic Neurodegenerative Satiety Deficiency Syndrome.” Let it be known that we want a copy!

If you dug the awesome art in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, you’ll be raving about the full color prints in the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Deluxe Edition, coming this October.

The deluxe edition will be hardcover, with 15 color prints of oil paintings commissioned for the book. Not only that, but it will have 30% MORE ZOMBIES, with new zombie mayhem added by author Seth Grahame-Smith.

As a preview of what’s coming, Irreference has released two prints, which you can print and use as you please.

We’re preordering now. Expect Regency England-themed zombie Halloween costumes.

According to a recent study, forty percent of children are at risk of becoming zombies, which may result in what is being referred to as the “zombie generation.” These children are sleep-deprived, due partially to staying up late at night texting and talking on their mobile phones, making them more susceptible to becoming zombies.

The researchers fear that the economic downturn could exacerbate the problem — “[parents] build these big houses but the children grow up in emotional silos,” one researcher stated, concluding that it’s only a matter of time until they become brainless hordes in desperate search for human flesh.

(Photo via Ian Aberle on Flickr)

With three new trailers for kickass zombie games, it’s been a very cool week for zombie game news.

First, we got to see the trailer for Left 4 Dead 2, which comes out this fall for XBOX 360 and PC. The zombies have escaped from quarantine, and you and your guns are all that’s left to stop them.

The trailer for Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, coming out later in the year for Wii, was also released. Looks like more crazy research lab-themed zombie hunting is in store.

And the awesome Dead Rising 2 trailer came out this week. The game will come out next year for 360, PS3 and PC. I’m excited about the seemingly endless hordes of zombies and the quasi-Vegas locale.

Check out some sick stills after the jump.

(via FEARnet)
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Happy Caturday! (via Fark)

The zombie plague has begun, but it hasn’t yet spread to humans. The infectious agent isn’t a virus — it’s a parasitic fly that attacks fire ants by laying eggs.

The zombification begins when the egg hatches and a maggot eats the fire ant’s brains. The ant later reanimates, walking around until its head falls off.

In a risky move, some Texas researchers are releasing this parasitic fly to combat fire ant infestation across the state. When will this parasite mutate and begin attacking humans? Could we already be in the process of mutation, with maggots already eating their way through the brains of unwitting Texans?

A zombie maggot plague? I guess this B-movie plot had to hatch in Texas.

(Photo via Alexander Wild on flickr)

Get out your Zombie Survival Guide, the apocalypse is now. Zombie Swine Flu will be raging through Europe in a matter of weeks — or perhaps only days.

Or not. Sorry. But the faux-BBC has a funny piece on the outbreak nevertheless. (The pic is from 28 Days Later, which you should go check out if you’re dying to see zombies in London.)