Zelda Williams is directing a "bonkers" zombie comedy and Diablo Cody is writing it

Lisa Frankenstein will be Williams' feature directorial debut

By Hattie Lindert  |  June 30, 2022 | 1:52pm
Aux News Diablo Cody
Zelda Williams is directing a
Zelda Williams Photo: Theo Wargo

Zelda Williams, the actor, filmmaker, and daughter of the late Robin Williams, is finally taking her talents to the (feature film) director’s chair. Working from a script by Diablo Cody, Williams is set to direct a new zombie rom-com, Lisa Frankenstein. The film has yet to receive an official premiere date.

Set in 1989 and stylized as such, Lisa Frankenstein follows “an unpopular high schooler who accidentally re-animates a handsome Victorian corpse during a lightning storm and starts to rebuild him into the man of her dreams using the broken tanning bed in her garage,” per Deadline.

Kathryn Newton of Big Little Lies and Dylan Sprouse are set to presumably star as the lonely teen and her re-animated dream, with principal filming beginning at the end of the summer. Lisa Frankenstein will also reunite Cody with producer Mason Novick, who she worked with on multiple films including her breakout Juno and the absolutely winning cult-favorite Jennifer’s Body.

Williams expressed her excitement for the “zomb-com” on Twitter, calling Cody’s script “the most bonkers, wonderful zombie script I’ve ever read.”

As it goes on The Internet, some pesky reply-guys found their way into the mentions of one of Williams’ celebratory tweets to bring up a predecessor in the zomb-com oeuvre, 2013's Warm Bodies. But in response to one tweeter who claimed Hollywood “already has” a film like Lisa Frankenstein, Williams pointed out that other genres have more films with far less diversity.

“Oh I’m so sorry, I’ll be sure to relegate my otherwise entirely unrelated and unique movie to a far distant shelf so the industry can continue making three billion versions of ‘grizzled ex cop tries to save woman from bad guys/mob’ allegory,” she wrote.

Williams also shared on Twitter that although Lisa Frankenstein wasn’t originally meant to be her first-ever feature film, she feels lucky things turned out the way they did.

“I had three films fall apart before this, because movies often do. It was discouraging, to say the least. But the fact this one survived and THRIVED to be my first? A fucking gift,” Williams wrote.

 
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