'Warm Bodies' Series In Development As Part Of Lionsgate's New Deal With Jonathan Levine

Remember Warm Bodies? It was the original zomcom, focusing on Nichols Hoult as a zombie known only as "R," who is slowly becoming more self-aware and less undead-like. When he encounters a living girl (Teresa Palmer) from a nearby group of survivors, she's the only one who sees that some of the zombies seem to be turning less monstrous as time goes on. Now the unique horror romantic comedy will get a TV series adaptation from Lionsgate.

Lionsgate announced news of the Warm Bodies series today as the first project from a new first-look film and TV deal with the film's director, Jonathan Levine. If you need a refresher on this movie, here's the official trailer:

Warm Bodies was truly original as far as romantic comedies go, though it was based on the novel of the same name by Isaac Marion. But no one had approached the tired trope of zombies in this fashion before, and that on its own was refreshing. However, how can the book series be satisfyingly stretched out to an entire TV show? Well, it just so happens there are more books that Isaac Marion wrote.

At the end of Warm Bodies, living humans start embracing the undead as they slowly start to become less zombie-like. The sequel, titled The Burning World, finds "R" continuing to make progress by re-learning how to read, speak and maybe even truly love. But the rest of the world isn't so keen to embrace the evolving zombies. Plus, there's also a prequel called The New Hunger that focuses on a 12-year old girl who has grown up in this zombie world and also introduces "R" just as he awakes as a zombie.

Levine has a solid history with Lionsgate, including the outstanding comedic drama 50/50 starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen, as well as the upcoming romantic comedy Long Shot starring Rogen and Charlize Theron. Clearly he likes what Lionsgate has done for his career, as he said in a statement:

"Lionsgate is the perfect home for Megamix, a studio to both my most successful and favorite moviemaking experiences. Joe [Drake, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chairman] and Nathan [Kahane, President of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group] have been great collaborators and friends who have supported me over the years and are as committed as Gillian and I are to nurture unique, creative and commercial visions and we couldn't be more thrilled."

Levine will be doing plenty more projects through his Megamix production banner, though it's not clear how involved he'll be with the Warm Bodies TV series. Also unlcear is whether this series is intended to be on a streaming service or cable channel (a broadcast network is extremely unlikely).

Stay tuned to find out more about the Warm Bodies series and whatever else Jonathan Levine has cooking.