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David Mumpower: Marketing campaigns are like quarterbacks. They get too much of the credit when a film excels and too much of the blame when a film...performs like Jennifer's Body. Acknowledging that in advance, the marketing campaign for Zombieland is the gold standard in what advertising firms should be attempting to accomplish. The film lends itself well to short clips anyway since it has several of those cute little truncated segments that end with clever text graphics. Utilizing those in the trailers was the right move, as well as highlighting the silly nature of much of the violence in the movie. They went a long way in showing that this film has less of genre master George Romero's gore but a lot of his silliness. Of course, what helps the most is that the movie is great, a Tremors for this era.

Zombie #7 probably really gets the most heat from this performance

Kim Hollis: Do any of the actors get a huge bump from Zombieland or is this a situation where the potential franchise is the big winner?

Tim Briody: I think the franchise wins over any of the other actors. Woody Harrelson is still Woody Harrelson. Jesse Eisenberg is still the go to guy when Michael Cera isn't available. And Abigail Breslin's (still only 13, by the way) plot to take over the world will continue.





Michael Lynderey: I don't see Zombieland as much of a franchise, but I could be wrong. I'd say Jesse Eisenberg pretty much gets first dibs on all those sensitive Michael Cera roles from now on (dibs over Cera himself, that is). Harrelson gets to keep character acting, maybe in something really awards-worthy (like say, the Messenger, next month). I don't think this helps Breslin much. She seems to have slid out of those cutesy Disney-type movies, and the terrain is kind of rough for actresses her age outside of the Magic Kingdom. And it's hard to say on Emma Stone. Maybe she should try out for the lead in Scary Movie 5.

Kim Hollis: Well, a sequel is already being bandied about (naturally), so I surely wouldn't rule it out as a potential franchise. It's a great concept and will have built-in goodwill.

Reagen Sulewski: Oh, I would definitely say Eisenberg wins over the franchise itself. For one thing, people have now heard of him. He also gets a leg up in the on-going feud to the death between himself, Michael Cera, Justin Long and Seth Green. I think Harrelson gets a bit of a bump too - this is his biggest hit in awhile that he can really take credit for.

Shane Jenkins: As far as actors, I would say that Harrelson is the big winner here. He sort of slipped off the radar the last few years, but his performance is what has people talking about Zombieland. Eisenberg is great too, but he just does his usual schtick, this time surrounded by zombies instead of distant parents. I know it's skirting the question a little here, but I think the real winners are director Ruben Fleischer and writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, all of whom hail from television. With a film this clever and successful, I doubt they'll have to worry too much about going back to Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Joe Schmo Show.

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