Here’s our first proper look at WARM BODIES, a new entry into the ‘zomromcom’ (© Edgar Wright & Simon Pegg) genre following on from the recent, similarly themed DEAD HEADS (reviewed here).

The movie stars the increasingly in-demand Nicholas Holt (X-MEN: FIRST CLASS) as a sentient zombie pursuing his lost love Julie (Teresa Palmer of I AM NUMBER FOUR and SORCERER’S APPRENTICE fame). 

While Summit no doubt have the TWILIGHT crowd firmly locked in their sites, we’re hoping director Jonathan Levine has something a little more interesting up his sleeve. Having seen his underrated horror debut ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE we know he’s more than capable of delivering the required edginess to make this strange concept work. These newly released pics leave us a tad cautious of the tone however, hope they’ve embraced the goofiness over the angst. What do you guys think?   

 

With any luck a trailer will arrive soon so we can be assured of the tone, but in the meantime here’s the official synopsis to tell us more…

‘Zombies love people, especially their brains. But R (Nicholas Hoult) is different. He’s alive inside, unlike the hundreds of other grunting, drooling undead — all victims of a recent plague that drove the remaining survivors into a heavily guarded city. Now the Zombies roam about an airport terminal, searching for human prey and living in fear of the vicious Boneys, the next undead incarnation.

One day, R and his best friend M lumber toward the city in search of food. There, R first sets his eyes on JULIE (Teresa Palmer), a beautiful human. Determined to save her—first from the other Zombies and then from the Boneys—R hides her in his home, a cluttered 747 aircraft. Julie is terrified, and R’s grunted assurances of “Not…eat” do little to calm her. But when R begins to act more human than Zombie, coming to her defense, refusing to eat human flesh, and even speaking in full sentences, Julie realizes that R is special.

After a few close calls with the Boneys, and with her father mounting an armed search for her, Julie realizes she can’t hide forever. So she sneaks back home, leaving R broken-hearted. Desperate to see her, R decides to comb his hair, stand a little straighter, and impersonate a human long enough to get past the city guards. If only he can prove to the humans that Zombies can change, maybe R and Julie’s love might stand a chance. But with the rampaging Boneys heading toward the city and Julie’s father intent on killing R and his Zombie friends, the stage is set for an all-out battle between the living and the undead.

A genre-bending tale of love and transformation, WARM BODIES is a story about a boy who loves a girl…for more than just her body.’

WARM BODIES opens in UK cinemas on August 24th.

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