Arnold Schwarzenegger Versus Zombies! What More Do You Want?

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new zombie flick, MAGGIE, has been picked up by Lions Gate for release early in 2015, according to Aint It Cool News.

Since finishing up his governor duties, Arnold Schwarzenegger has, thus far, been mainly focused on sequels and reboots, including The Expendables, the new Terminator film and Legend of Conan, a sequel to the 1982 Schwarzenegger’s role as the ultimate barbarian.

But MAGGIE is an original. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the title character’s father, a farmer who comes to realize his daughter, – played by Enders Game star, Abigail Breslin – is slowly turning into a flesh-eating zombie.

MAGGIE was written by relative newcomer John Scott III, according to Screen Rant, and Scott is also acting as an executive producer on the film. The script made the 2011 Black List – a list of the most deserving, unproduced screenplays in Hollywood.

In addition to Arnold Schwarzenegger and Abigail Breslin, the small film’s cast includes Amy Brassette from True Detective, Rachel Whitman Groves from the Oldboy remake, and freshman actor Aiden Flowers. MAGGIE is being directed by Henry Hobson.

It seems odd that we’ve had to wait this long to see Arnold Schwarzenegger in a zombie flick. With the zombie glut over the last decade with films and television shows such as World War Z, The Walking Dead, Dead Snow, Warm Bodies, Zombieland, the hunger – no pun intended – for zombie flicks hasn’t seemed to dissipate. It seems like an obvious choice to pit Arnold Schwarzenegger, arguably the biggest action star in the world, against a horde of mindless, brain-eating zombies.

Prolific Tweeter that Arnold Schwarzenegger is (and we’re not kidding, check out his endless Twitter feed), the former California Governor posted a pic last year of himself, the director and his co-star on the set:

Really excited to start shooting Maggie today with our director @henryhobson and my fantastic co-star, @yoabbaabba. pic.twitter.com/QVItNfGxRf

— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) September 23, 2013

As excited as many fans might be to see Arnold Schwarzenegger carrying around an M-16, or a flamethrower, or some kind of big weapon to personally take on the zombie apocalypse, movie-goers might be in for a bit of a letdown. Experts say that MAGGIE is much more drama-driven. Think of it more as a story about a father who’s helping his daughter through a tragic disease… that disease just happens to be zombification.

MAGGIE, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, heads to theaters in the first half of 2015.

image via the arnold fans