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Zombieland (2009)

By Michael Schilf · October 19, 2010

Screenplay Genre: Action / Adventure / Comedy / Horror

Movie Time: 88 minutes

1. INCITING INCIDENT

While walking down a highway in post-apocalyptic America where a virus has turned everyone into flesh-craving zombies, a phobic, paranoid, geeky college student, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), encounters Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) driving a black Escalade. Tallahassee, a fearless zombie killer on a quest to find the world's last Twinkie, agrees to give Columbus a ride as far as Texarkana. (00:08:00)

2. LOCK IN (End of Act One)

Inside a grocery store in hopes of finding a Twinkie, Tallahassee and Columbus discover two teenage girls, Wichita (Emma Stone) and her younger sister, Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). Little Rock appears to be infected and Tallahassee gives Wichita his gun to kill her, but it's a scam and the girls use the gun to rob them of their weapons, ammo, and the Escalade. (00:26:00)

3. FIRST CULMINATION (Midpoint)

Later all four team up together, heading west in a new vehicle, a yellow Hummer, but Columbus wants to go east, with ill-fated hopes of finding his family in Ohio. However, when Wichita drives him to an abandoned vehicle to go his own way, he decides to stay with them – realizing that they're the only real family he's got. (00:40:00)

4. MAIN CULMINATION (End of Act Two)

They make it to Hollywood and crash at Bill Murray's mansion for the night, accidentally killing the iconic actor, but the next morning the girls ditch the boys again, stealing the Hummer to head off to Pacific PlayLand, a Los Angeles amusement park that's rumored to be zombie-free. (1:03:00)

5. THIRD ACT TWIST

Columbus decides to go after the girls, mostly because he has a major crush on Wichita. Tallahassee refuses, resolved to go to Mexico, but when he sees Columbus drive a motorcycle ten feet and crash into some bushes at Murray's mansion, he changes his mind, agreeing to help save the girls with Columbus. (1:09:00)