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85-494: The name TMZ is derived from the acronym for thirty-mile zone that was historically used in the film and television industry to refer to the so-called "studio zone"—an area with a 30-mile (48 km) radius centered on the intersection of Beverly Boulevard and La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles , California. It was called the studio zone because of the number of film and television studios within it. TMZ's managing editor

170-450: A personality cult of figures such as Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton —celebrities who are known more as targets for paparazzi than for the work they do. In defense for TMZ's coverage, Levin said that certain celebrities are main subjects on the website because of their "relevancy" and because their relevancy helps draw viewership to the website. Liz Kelly of Washington Post attacked both Levin and TMZ in an article, stating: "I know this

255-400: A spec script for a television pilot in the summer of 2005. Wernick stated, "We've got a long brainstorming document that still to this day gets updated on a near-weekly basis with ideas". Director Ruben Fleischer helped develop the script from a series into a self-contained feature by providing a specific destination to the road story, the amusement park. Earlier versions of the script called

340-470: A "Zombie Kill of the Week" winner, and whose surname is actually an obsolete term for a citizen or inhabitant of New York City. The one exception is Murray playing himself. At the end of the film, Wichita tells Columbus that her real name is Krista. Writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick stated that the idea for Zombieland had "lived in [their] heads" for four-and-a-half years. The story was originally developed as

425-415: A "long, long time" and that while the film did little to advance the genre, its smart script and high action made it very enjoyable. Savlov categorized Zombieland as being "dead set against being dead serious" with its tonal pallor "ha[ving] more in common with a foreshortened It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World than with 28 Days or Weeks Later ". The film's witty use of dialogue and popular culture

510-405: A Hollywood and entertainment-focused news site in collaboration with Telepictures Productions. During this pre-launch period, AOL expressed interest in establishing a website with a primary emphasis on celebrities. Upon the site's official launch, AOL confirmed that it would predominantly showcase Hollywood gossip, encompassing interviews, photos, and video content featuring celebrities. Additionally,

595-803: A September 2007 article entitled "I Want My TMZ", describing TMZ as being "a fusion of celebrity news blog and embarrassing video archive" and stating that he felt that the website had become "the poster child for the celebrity pseudo-news industry" and that the website has "distinct advantages" over " gossip magazines " because it can "show all the borderline pornographic clips that Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood can't." Jennifer Metz and David Muir of ABC News acknowledged that TMZ has long been criticized for their "aggressive tactics, antagonizing stars with video cameras" and noted that those "encounters, capturing at times violent celebrity confrontations with photographers, receive hundreds of hits online, and critics ask if entertainment reporters are crossing

680-490: A TMZ videographer that was originally rejected from being posted on TMZ.com by Levin or broadcast on TMZ on TV by post-production supervisor Chad Weiser following its initial pitch. "Tim's Rejects" and "Hate Mail" were previously aired as the last segment of their respective editions until April 2015, when they were shifted to the block preceding that occupied by the "Viewer's Choice" segment (at which point, all three segments as well as "The Loser's Circle" began to be followed by

765-615: A branded section on the main TMZ website in June 2013. Premiere Networks launched a daily TMZ Sports radio show in October 2013. A television show began testmarketing on select regional Fox stations in January 2014. It then aired during the 2014/2015 seasons on Reelz under name TMZ Hollywood Sports . On November 9, 2015, the series reverted to being known as TMZ Sports and moved to Fox Sports 1 . TMZ Sports

850-721: A brief respite in an empty, lavish mansion". Claudia Puig of USA Today said, "underlying the carnage in Zombieland is a sweetly beating heart", and, "This road movie/horror flick/dark comedy/earnest romance/action film hybrid laces a gentle drollness through all the bloody mayhem". Entertainment Weekly ' s Lisa Schwarzbaum concluded, "At the bone, Zombieland is a polished, very funny road picture shaped by wisenheimer cable-TV sensibilities and starring four likable actors, each with an influential following". Josh Levin of Slate drew parallels with Adventureland : in both films, Jesse Eisenberg tries to win over his dream girl,

935-465: A final gross of $ 75,590,286 in North America and $ 26,801,254 in other territories for a worldwide gross of $ 102,391,540. Zombieland received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 89% based on reviews from 259 critics, with a rating average of 7.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "Wickedly funny and featuring plenty of gore, Zombieland is proof that

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1020-616: A former employee from testifying in the Depp-Heard case. The motion was denied. On October 16, 2024, after the death of British singer and former One Direction member Liam Payne , TMZ garnered controversy after posting pictures of his identifying tattoos of his dead body as well as the scene of the hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina . This sparked outrage on social media, including from Canadian singer Alessia Cara and British media personality Rylan Clark . The photos were later taken down after

1105-447: A game—how can you survive a zombie horde armed with a shotgun, an SUV and a smart mouth?" A trailer of Zombieland was released on June 18, 2009. Distributed by Columbia Pictures, the film was released on October 2, 2009, a week earlier than originally advertised. Zombieland was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on February 2, 2010, on Blu-ray and DVD . The film was released on March 15, 2010, on DVD and Blu-ray in

1190-572: A girl who has been hardened by life, and both feature a theme park. He goes so far as to call the film "an undead Adventureland —a Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for the Facebook generation". Time 's Richard Corliss described the film as "an exhilarating ride, start to finish" and reasoned " Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg set a high bar for this subgenre with Shaun of the Dead , but Reese, Wernick, and Fleischer may have trumped them". "This isn't just

1275-452: A good zombie comedy. It's a damn fine movie, period. And that's high praise, coming from a vampire guy", he stated. Not all comparisons with Shaun of the Dead were favorable: Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out New York characterized the "extra injection of pop-culture neuroticism" as "the one innovation" of the film, declaring that while Zombieland was funny, it was not particularly scary and stated that it "simply isn't as witty as Shaun of

1360-447: A humorous manner whereas a mix of humorous and serious news stories appear on the website and companion web/television series. TMZ offers viewers the option of being able to view the two most recent episodes of the program on TMZ.com after the episode's original airdate (being available for viewing for two days after the broadcast on weekdays and three days after the original broadcast on weekends). Chris Persell, of TVWeek.com, stated that

1445-550: A movie called Zombieland, in which I was constantly under assault by zombies, then flew to New York, still very much in character ... With my daughter at the airport I was startled by a paparazzo, who I quite understandably mistook for a zombie." On December 24, 2010, the gossip blog " Oh No They Didn't " reported that TMZ began blocking traffic from the UK , displaying the message: "Due to laws within your region, you are unable to view this website." Asked for further comment, TMZ responded that

1530-425: A possible sequel, with many more ideas they wanted to explore. In August 2016, Reese and Wernick confirmed that they were working on Zombieland 2 and meeting with Woody Harrelson to discuss the film, while stating "all the cast is pretty excited." The film, Zombieland: Double Tap , featuring the return of the original cast, was released on October 18, 2019, the tenth anniversary of the original film's release, and

1615-486: A real cool hat". Harrelson's choice of headwear for Tallahassee came not just down to style, but also to his environmental passions: the distinctive hat is handmade in Brazil by a company called The Real Deal using recycled cargo-truck tarps and wire from old truck tires. Shortly after finishing the filming of Zombieland , Harrelson had an altercation with a TMZ photographer at New York City's LaGuardia Airport . His defense

1700-451: A result. Despite Wichita and Columbus falling for each other, Wichita abruptly leaves with Little Rock for Pacific Playland the next morning. Columbus decides to go after Wichita and convinces Tallahassee to join him. At Pacific Playland, the sisters activate all the rides and lights, only to unwittingly draw the attention of many zombies in the area. They become trapped on a drop tower ride as Tallahassee and Columbus arrive. Tallahassee lures

1785-582: A shelter puppy. Zombieland was filmed in digital, using the Panavision Genesis digital camera and had a 41-day shooting schedule. The theme-park scenes for the film's climax, Pacific Playland, were mostly shot in Valdosta 's local theme park Wild Adventures Water and Theme Park. Some of the amusement rides prominently featured in the film include Pharaoh's Fury, the Double Shot (redubbed "Blast Off"),

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1870-492: A story segment). In March 2012, Fox Television Stations tested a syndicated broadcast of TMZ Live (which is an hour-long edited version of the live webcast that is broadcast on a one-day delay from its original tape date, with segments aired in a different order, mainly due to live interviews that require the segment to be shown out of order on the webcast for varied reasons) on its television stations in Los Angeles and Phoenix . In June 2012, SiriusXM Radio announced that

1955-412: A task that Fleischer described as "like for an alcoholic not to drink". He succeeded and maintained a vegetarian diet for 11 months. The cameo role was originally written for Patrick Swayze , as a zombified, dancing character, including references to highlights of Swayze's career, even including a recreation of the potter's wheel scene from Ghost . However, Swayze was battling pancreatic cancer at

2040-641: A yellow Hummer H2 loaded with weapons and continue on before running into another trap set by the girls, who take them hostage. Tallahassee steals his gun back and has a stand-off with Wichita, until Columbus intervenes saying that they have bigger problems to worry about, resulting in an uneasy truce between them. The sisters reveal they are going to the Pacific Playland amusement park in Los Angeles , an area supposedly free of zombies. After learning his hometown has been destroyed, and his parents likely killed, Columbus and Tallahassee decide to accompany them to

2125-456: Is Harvey Levin , a lawyer-turned-journalist who was previously a legal expert for the Los Angeles television station KCBS-TV . While the TMZ website claims that it does not pay writers for stories or interviews, Levin has acknowledged that TMZ does "sometimes pay sources for leads on stories". Three months before TMZ's official launch, America Online (AOL) had indicated its intention to create

2210-415: Is "how you present yourself as a zombie that determines how people will react to you" and that "once the contact lenses go in", he thinks "all bets are off". Gardner said he was excited about working on the film with first-time filmmaker Ruben Fleischer, who gave him free rein in his zombie design. "[We] are just trying to be real extreme with it", stated Gardner, "and trying to balance the scares out with

2295-470: Is a live chat program on Ustream hosted by TMZ clip clearance producer Dax Holt . In the broadcasts, Holt talks to "Chizzlers" about celebrity gossip and articles that have been posted on the TMZ website. As early as 2009, Levin was rumored to be interested in creating a TMZ branded sports site. The site was initially expected to launch in March 2010 but those plans did not see fruition. It eventually launched as

2380-460: Is co-hosted by TMZ Sports Executive Producer Michael Babcock, WNBA player Renee Montgomery , and former WWE Superstar and NFL player, Mojo Muhtadi . TMZ France was created on December 18, 2012. Since the launch of TMZ, the website has faced criticism, varying from attempted boycotts to criticism of its journalistic tactics and of its focus. It has been criticized for its usage of photographs and videos obtained from paparazzi . Some have questioned

2465-416: Is covering on the website, and at times, features live interviews (most of which are conducted through webcam conferencing) as well as viewer opinions via Twitter , telephone and video chat (including Skype ). In addition, the program features regular segments towards the end of each edition: "Viewer's Choice" (aired as the penultimate segment) featuring viewer questions or comments about stories featured in

2550-466: Is like spitting in the wind, but I have to say it: Harvey Levin, please stop it." On January 16, 2013, Andre Lowe was killed outside of a nightclub in Hollywood. A nearby reporter from TMZ ended up filming the attack and it was posted to the website without permission of the family. On January 22, 2013, TMZ ended up taking down the video after over two dozen advertisers revoked ads for the website because of

2635-467: The PDF of the entire book has "diminished or destroyed" its value. While actor Woody Harrelson was at New York City's LaGuardia Airport , he had an altercation with a photographer for TMZ. Harrelson defended himself stating that he had at the time just finished filming his scenes from the horror film, that consists mainly of zombies, Zombieland , and that he was "startled" by the TMZ photographer. "I wrapped

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2720-446: The Dead , forever the yuks-meet-yucks standard". Similarly, The Globe and Mail ' s Rick Groen said "It's far more charming than chilling and way more funny than frightening", though he suggested that Rule No. 32 to 'enjoy the little things' was worth observing for a light comedy. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times classified the film as "[a] minor diversion dripping in splatter and groaning with self-amusement" and lamented

2805-499: The Los Angeles County Coroner's report following a request from a lawyer representing Bennington's widow, Talinda. Talinda responded with criticism of the Los Angeles County Coroner's office for disclosing the information to TMZ as well as TMZ itself, concluding a Twitter tirade with the hashtag "#FuckyouTMZ". In May 2018, TMZ reported intimate details of the suicide of Swedish DJ Avicii , who had died that April, with

2890-608: The Rattler, the Aviator, and the Bug Out. A haunted-house facade was constructed at the theme park, but the interior was filmed on location at Netherworld Haunted House outside Atlanta. Special effects makeup designer Tony Gardner , who helped Rick Baker create the signature look of Michael Jackson 's music video " Thriller " and has contributed to other Hollywood films such as 127 Hours , Hairspray , and There's Something About Mary ,

2975-661: The UK. Select Best Buy stores sold a special edition on both DVD and Blu-ray with an additional disc featuring two featurettes. It was also released as a film for the PSP UMD . The film grossed $ 54 million in home sales. Zombieland was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray on October 1, 2019, a few weeks before the sequel was released in theatres. The film debuted at number one at the box office in North America, with ticket sales of $ 24,733,155 over its opening weekend, averaging about $ 8,147 from 3,036 theaters, matching its production budget. It

3060-514: The United States, the show airs in various timeslots on stations of varying network affiliation (primarily on Fox stations), mainly either in early primetime or after late local newscasts, with an hour-long 'best-of' program compiling select stories from the weekday broadcasts airing on weekends. The show covers stories similar to those found on the website and TMZ Live , with the main difference being that TMZ on TV largely delivers its stories in

3145-411: The amusement park. When the group reaches Hollywood, Tallahassee directs them to Bill Murray 's house. Tallahassee and Wichita meet Murray, uninfected and disguised as a zombie, and they play a prank on Columbus and Little Rock by having him pretend to be a zombie, only for Columbus to accidentally kill Murray. Columbus soon realizes that "Buck" was actually Tallahassee's son, who got infected and died as

3230-450: The backlash. In what The Smoking Gun called "a colossal screw-up", in 2009 TMZ published an "exclusive" picture on their website of a man purported to be John F. Kennedy on a ship with several naked women that could have "changed history" had it come out during his presidential campaign. Despite having a Photoshop expert proclaiming the picture as "authentic", the picture was later discovered to have not been of Kennedy at all. The photo

3315-653: The blocking was due to "legal restrictions" related to English defamation law . The UK website " Popbitch Board" noted on December 31, 2010, that it is possible to get around the block by accessing the website through the Google Translate website. As of January 7, 2011, TMZ is accessible in the UK. TMZ Live is a live-chat program from TMZ that features Levin and fellow TMZ executive producer Charles Latibeaudiere, and occasionally senior producer Michael Babcock filling in for one or both hosts. Other TMZ staffers (mainly those who regularly appear on TMZ on TV ) also appear on

3400-405: The broadcast as contributors to provide additional outline of the story as well as to provide opinion. The live webcast takes place at the TMZ offices in Los Angeles, and is broadcast on TMZ.com Monday through Fridays from approximately 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time (the length varies depending on the featured segments). The TMZ Live television and Internet programs review stories that TMZ

3485-558: The broadcast, with additional commentary or analysis by the hosts. "Hate Mail," featured on the Wednesday edition of the webcast (the Thursday edition on the television broadcast), in which negative emails and letters sent by viewers (some of which feature potshots at Levin or Latibeaudiere) are read by the hosts. "Tim's Rejects," featured on the Thursday edition of the webcast (the Friday edition on

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3570-480: The campaign. At 11:24 a.m. Pacific Time on January 26, 2020, TMZ reported on the death of basketball player Kobe Bryant , being the first news outlet to do so. TMZ received strong criticism, notably from Sheriff Alex Villanueva of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department , for reporting on the story before the next of kin had been notified as well as leaking photos of the crash site. During

3655-458: The comedy". He described having to makeover physically attractive actors who usually benefit from their looks as "a little off-putting" after seeing some of them in their character makeup for the first time. The zombies in Zombieland were described by the casting director as: "Ferocious, infected people who move erratically. They are diseased, as opposed to undead. These are not the lumbering walking dead of Romero 's zombie movies, but instead

3740-563: The defamation trial against actress Amber Heard , TMZ was a point of discussion and raised much criticism. Lawyer Camille Vasquez confronted Ms. Heard, claiming Heard gave a video of Depp being agitated and slamming cupboards to TMZ a day before the temporary restraining order (TRO) was filed. Vasquez also pointed out that TMZ had been alerted of the alleged abuse and the upcoming divorce in 2016, where Ms. Heard in her deposition mentioned that TMZ had been alerted. On May 24, 2022, TMZ, through EHM Productions Inc, filed an Emergency Motion to prevent

3825-438: The effect that aggressive and obtrusive photographers have on the subjects they cover. Many of the videos on the site show, in the footage, that their paparazzi chase people (mainly celebrities)—a practice that has been called dangerous and "creepy". Over the years, some have called for a boycott of TMZ and of the accompanying show. TMZ has also faced internal criticism due to Harvey Levin 's emerging support for Donald Trump in

3910-436: The film, Tallahassee (Harrelson), Columbus (Eisenberg), Wichita (Stone), and Little Rock (Breslin) make their way on an extended cross-country road trip to find a sanctuary free from zombies . Development for Zombieland began in 2005, when Reese and Wernick originally wrote the film as a spec script for a television pilot . Fleischer helped develop the teleplay into a screenplay for a self-contained feature. Tony Gardner

3995-462: The first time. Telepictures (which TMZ is operated by) stated: "Subject to certain performance adjustments and the reimbursement of expenses, revenues are split evenly between the parties [...] Telepictures received payments of US$ 6.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009, and US$ 12.7 million, US$ 9.6 million and US$ 3.0 million in 2008, 2007 and 2006, respectively." Based on released figures, TMZ's revenues for 2008

4080-578: The focus of the film, and felt that "all of this could have been dreary, but not here. The filmmakers show invention and well-tuned comic timing". He credited Bill Murray's cameo appearance as receiving the "single biggest laugh" of the year and gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. Murray's cameo was called out for attention by other reviewers: Marc Savlov of the Austin Chronicle credited it as "the single most outrageously entertaining unexpected celebrity cameo of any film—genre or otherwise—" that he had seen in

4165-459: The headline "Avicii's suicide caused by self-inflicted cuts from glass". Jennifer Michael Hecht , writing for Vox , criticized TMZ's reporting as being sensationalist and going against the CDC's recommended guidelines for reporting suicides, which include not mentioning the method of suicide. Talinda Bennington also reacted unfavorably, urging people to "[not] click on the TMZ article or any other about

4250-484: The lack of a real plot more concrete than a series of comedy takes on zombie-slaying. The film's music was composed by David Sardy . The soundtrack was released on October 6, 2009, by Relativity Music Group . The song For Whom the Bell Tolls by the band Metallica was used in the opening credits scene. All music is composed by David Sardy Due to the film's success, writers Reese and Wernick always planned

4335-462: The line." Metz and Muir questioned whether TMZ's tactics "go too far". Ken Sunshine , publicist for Ben Affleck and Leonardo DiCaprio , stated that his clients disliked the website because it has a tendency to be negative towards celebrities when reporting on them. "I hate that they have anything to do with trying to put celebrities into the worst light possible and that they play the ' gotcha ' game". A student newspaper criticized TMZ for having

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4420-461: The part instead. According to Harrelson most of the scene was improvised. Principal photography began February 2009 in Hollywood, California, with scenes being shot at Scream Fest Theme Park and other locations. Filming continued in March in Atlanta , Hapeville , Morrow , Decatur , Newnan and Powder Springs, Georgia , where actress Abigail Breslin celebrated her 13th birthday by adopting

4505-430: The platform would provide information related to industry news, covering movies, television shows, and more. The site was described as "an effort to further feed the current American obsession with celebrities". Mike Shields of MediaWeek.com wrote, "the site also boasts of an expansive collection of archived star photos and videos", allowing fans to "trace changing hairlines and waistlines of their favorites performers over

4590-638: The private details of Avicii’s passing", adding "This is how [we] can stop [filthy TMZ]." TMZ faced strong criticism for purchasing stolen items pertaining to the fourth Indiana Jones film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull . On October 2, 2007, IESB reported that a number of production photos and sensitive documents pertaining to the production budget had been stolen from Steven Spielberg 's production office. Movie City News , which strongly criticized TMZ for purchasing stolen items, remarked that

4675-405: The protagonists Flagstaff and Albuquerque, rather than Columbus and Tallahassee, and the female characters were called Wichita and Stillwater. Harrelson accepted the role on four conditions, two of which were about casting and crew. The third condition required the film to have an environmentally conscious set. The fourth condition required that the director will not eat dairy products for a week,

4760-613: The run-up to the 2016 United States presidential election . By 2020, dozens of former TMZ employees had spoken to the media about a racist and misogynistic workplace culture which TMZ's internal leadership was unwilling to change. After Linkin Park lead vocalist Chester Bennington died by suicide in July 2017, TMZ reported in December 2017 that Bennington had attempted to drown himself nine months before his death; this information had been redacted from

4845-423: The script, but with the main actors of the original film likely not returning. The television program was planned to begin in the fall of 2012. These plans did not come to fruition. In January 2013, it was revealed that the casting call for the production just went out for the main characters, with a few changes to the movie for the show and the addition of two new characters, Atlanta and Ainsley. In March 2013, it

4930-461: The show is a "complement [to] the website, with news updates added to later airings of the show". Levin and Jim Paratore served as executive producers to the show, and the on-air cast originally included Teresa Strasser, John Fugelsang , Ben Mankiewicz and Michael Hundgen. David Bianculli of The New York Daily News strongly criticized the television show, its topics, and what he sees as its reporters' tactics and lack of professionalism. Dax Chat

5015-634: The show would be aired daily on its Sirius XM Stars channel. In October of that year, the television show was expanded to seven markets, adding Boston , Chicago , Dallas , Detroit and Minneapolis . On September 9, 2013, TMZ Live began airing on all 18 Fox owned-and-operated stations . The program began to be syndicated to stations outside of the Fox Television Stations group in the spring of 2014. On September 10, 2007, TMZ launched an accompanying television series, TMZ on TV . The syndicated television program airs Monday through Fridays. In

5100-401: The stories are true, he questioned how the sources obtained their information. Levin has acknowledged that TMZ pays sources, but in the form of a "tip fee". Levin stated that TMZ pays for photos and for 'tips' or leads on stories, and defended TMZ's position by stating that the sources and tips are verified before being used or reported. In November 2009, TMZ's revenue was publicly disclosed for

5185-475: The super jacked up 28 Days Later / Dawn of the Dead zombies. They are scary, gnarly, and gross. Harrelson had input into the wardrobe for his character, Tallahassee. "I never worked so long and hard on an outfit in my life," he stated. "What this guy wears is who he is. You want to get a sense of this guy as soon as you see him. So I pick out the necklaces, the sunglasses. But the hat? The minute you see that on Tallahassee, you buy him. He's real. And he's got

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5270-455: The television broadcast), in which staffer Tim Nowak presents three offbeat news stories (that are not entertainment or sports-related) which are critiqued by the hosts. "The Loser's Circle," featured on the Friday edition of the webcast (the Monday edition on the television broadcast) since February 2015, in which Levin, Latibeaudiere and TMZ on TV executive producer Evan Rosenblum judge a clip from

5355-531: The then-new website "wasn't getting off to a good start". According to IESB, TMZ had obtained some of the stolen property and was planning on running a story about the topic on their TV show, until the lawyers of the film's production company, Paramount Pictures , intervened. Shortly after IESB broke the story, TMZ broadcast details about the Indiana Jones production budget on their show on October 3, 2007. Tony Manfred of The Cornell Daily Sun criticized TMZ in

5440-503: The time and was too sick to make it to set. Swayze died in September 2009. Later versions of the script considered Sylvester Stallone , Joe Pesci , Mark Hamill , Dwayne Johnson , Kevin Bacon , Jean-Claude Van Damme or Matthew McConaughey as the celebrity. The actor cast in the part dropped out a week before filming, and Harrelson made a few calls and was able to get Bill Murray to play

5525-399: The way, he meets Tallahassee, who somewhat reluctantly agrees to give Columbus a ride towards Ohio. On the way, he mentions to Columbus that he misses his puppy, Buck, who was killed by zombies. The pair meet con artist sisters Wichita and Little Rock, who trick Tallahassee and Columbus and steal their weapons and Escalade after Little Rock feigns being bitten by a zombie. The two men find

5610-407: The website's companion syndicated television series ). On June 20, 2007, a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee filed an emergency motion requesting that the TMZ website be held in contempt for its publication of the entire manuscript of If I Did It , O. J. Simpson 's purportedly fictionalized account of the murder of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson . The filing claimed TMZ's posting of

5695-530: The years". Since 2005, TMZ has signed New Line Cinema , Hilton Hotels , Chrysler and Revlon as charter advertisers to their website. The New York Times cited TMZ as "one of the most successful online ventures of the last few years." In October 2008, the New York Times reported that TMZ, at the time, was receiving more than 10 million viewers every month. Levin has acknowledged that TMZ has passed on multiple notable coverages because he felt that, while

5780-481: The zombie subgenre is far from dead." On Metacritic , which assigns a weighted average rating to reviews from mainstream critics, the film holds a score of 73 out of 100 based on 31 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore during the opening weekend, gave Zombieland an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. Roger Ebert was surprised by Zombieland ' s ability to be significantly humorous while zombies remained

5865-666: The zombie-infested world. By the end of the film, his list has 33 rules, yet only a few are mentioned. A series of promotional videos starring Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg expanded on the list presented in the film. Wichita and Little Rock have their own rule: "Trust no one. Just you and me." The main characters do not use each other's real names but identify themselves using place names ( Columbus , Tallahassee , Wichita , and Little Rock ) that relate to them. This includes Columbus's neighbor, named 406 after her room, and his fictional sexual conquest Beverly Hills, as well as Sister Cynthia Knickerbocker, whom Columbus identifies as

5950-410: The zombies to a game booth and kills several as Columbus heads to the drop tower; he evades and shoots through a horde and safely helps the girls down. Wichita kisses Columbus and reveals her real name: Krista. Deciding to stick together from now on, the group then leaves Pacific Playland. A running gag (and a central theme throughout the film) is the list of rules Columbus comes up with for surviving in

6035-612: Was US$ 25.4 million and is projected to have less revenue in the 2009 year with the revenue of $ 12.4 million in first three quarters of the year—unlike the previous year, which was within the US$ 15 million range. On May 29, 2012, co-founder Jim Paratore died of a heart attack during a cycling trip in France . Paratore was known for his work in television production, producing several daytime and syndicated programs, particularly while serving as an executive at Telepictures (which co-produced

6120-438: Was also praised by Ty Burr of The Boston Globe , who said the film "makes no claims to greatness", but that what it "has instead—in spades—is deliciously weary end-of-the-world banter". Michael Ordona of Los Angeles Times praised director Fleischer for "bring[ing] impeccable timing and bloodthirsty wit to the proceedings". Some reviewers saw deeper levels in the plot and cinematography; cinematographer Michael Bonvillain

6205-417: Was announced that Amazon Studios had ordered a pilot episode. Reese, Wernick, and Polone were joined by Eli Craig , who directed the pilot. Tyler Ross plays Columbus, Kirk Ward plays Tallahassee, Maiara Walsh plays Wichita and Izabela Vidovic plays Little Rock. A new character named Detroit (voiced by Kendra Fountain) was introduced as an ex- OnStar operator, serving as the gang's navigator. The pilot

6290-463: Was announced two days later. On August 22, 2024, TMZ incorrectly reported that Beyoncé would make a surprise appearance on the final night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention . The report was widely shared. Later that night, a representative for Beyoncé said the singer was never scheduled to be at the DNC and that the report was false. After the convention, TMZ acknowledged "we got this one wrong" and

6375-467: Was brought on to design the look of the film's zombies. Michael Bonvillain, who was Cloverfield ' s cinematographer , was brought on for the "lively" hand-held camerawork. "Basically, it's the end of the world; the entire nation is zombies", stated Gardner. "And [the humans] are trying to get from the east coast to the west coast". For one shooting scene, Gardner said, "There were 160 zombies, in prosthetics , on set in an amusement park". He said it

6460-640: Was credited as having the second-highest-grossing start on record for a zombie film behind the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake, and as "the first American horror comedy in recent memory to find significant theatrical success". The film grossed $ 60.8 million in 17 days, becoming the top-grossing zombie film in history; the record was previously held by the Dawn of the Dead remake. It was later surpassed by Resident Evil: Afterlife which grossed over $ 290 million worldwide and World War Z which grossed over $ 540 million worldwide. Zombieland closed on December 13, 2009, with

6545-479: Was discovered to have been part of a Playboy photoshoot from November 1967, which was later confirmed by Playboy representatives. On March 15, 2013, members of TMZ's staff claimed that they had learned rapper Lil Wayne was in an "unstable" condition after he was hospitalized following a seizure and that the then 30-year-old rapper had been placed in an induced coma and was breathing through tubes. Soon afterwards, Birdman stated on his Twitter account that Wayne

6630-475: Was healthy enough to be released from the hospital. Approximately one hour after these messages were made, Wayne himself stated on his Twitter account that he was fine. On October 26, 2022, TMZ incorrectly reported that rock n' roll pioneer and country music legend Jerry Lee Lewis had died; they issued a correction a few hours later. A CBS affiliate in Sacramento also reported the false news . Lewis' death

6715-564: Was hired as the film's special effects makeup designer, which primarily features physical prosthetics to create the look of the zombies. Principal photography for the film began in February 2009 and lasted until that March, with filming locations including Hollywood , Atlanta , and in and around Georgia . Some of the film's scenes contained improvisation by the actors. Zombieland premiered at Fantastic Fest in Austin on September 25, 2009, and

6800-425: Was once again a critical and financial success. On the possibility of a third film, Fleischer can not decide if the cast will return or not. He has stated that he "would love to do a Madison stand-alone movie." In October 2011, it was reported that Fox Broadcasting Company and Sony Pictures were considering a television adaption of the series to be aired on CBS , with Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese writing

6885-410: Was praised for capturing "some interesting images amid the postapocalyptic carnival of carnage, as when he transforms the destruction of a souvenir shop into a rough ballet", while Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com said, "the picture is beautifully paced" and highlighted "a halcyon middle section where, in what could be viewed as a sideways homage to Rebel Without a Cause , our rootless wanderers share

6970-477: Was released in October 2019. Two months since a strain of mad cow disease mutated to become infectious to humans and turn them into zombies, survivors of the epidemic are advised to use their city of origin as nicknames when meeting other survivors, to not get too attached to them and protect themselves. Columbus, a former college student with a unique set of zombie survival rules, travels from Austin, Texas , towards Columbus, Ohio , to search for his parents. On

7055-615: Was that he was still in character and thought the cameraman was a zombie. The special-effects team created several visual elements, including "The Rules for Survival", which appear on-screen as they are related to the audience by Columbus: "Do cardio ", "Beware of bathrooms", "Check the back seat", and so forth. The texts are rendered in three dimensions . "When a previously stated rule becomes relevant—when nature calls, for instance—the relevant text pops up, occasionally getting splattered with blood." Slate 's Josh Levin said, "The pop-up bit works precisely because Zombieland unspools like

7140-419: Was theatrically released in the United States on October 2, by Sony Pictures Releasing . The film received positive critical reception, with praise for its screenplay, dialogue, comedy, and cast performances. It grossed $ 102 million worldwide, becoming the then-highest grossing zombie film in the U.S. until the release of World War Z (2013), and $ 54 million in home sales. A sequel, Zombieland: Double Tap ,

7225-730: Was widely mocked on social media. Thirty-mile zone Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 766602510 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:52:11 GMT Zombieland Zombieland is a 2009 American post-apocalyptic zombie comedy film directed by Ruben Fleischer (in his theatrical debut) and written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick . It stars Woody Harrelson , Jesse Eisenberg , Emma Stone , Abigail Breslin , and Bill Murray . In

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