The forthcoming film adaption of Jeff Hart’s Eat, Brains, Love has tapped One Tree Hill writing team Mike Herro and David Strauss to pen the script and Rodman Flender to direct. Gunpowder & Sky first announced that they had signed an exclusive deal with DIGA Studios, an independent production studio founded by former MTV President Tony DiSanto, and Full Fathom Five to develop the teen zombie novel in 2016.
“With years of experience writing and producing successful series across multiple networks, both [Herro] and [Strauss] were a natural fit for Eat, Brains, Love,” said Van Toffler, CEO of Gunpowder & Sky in a statement.
DiSanto adds, “Herro and Strauss did a fantastic job adapting the source material; the script retains the core DNA of what attracted us to the book, while at the same time creating something fresh and new, injecting into it their truly unique voice. I’ve also had the pleasure of working with [Flender] in the past on episodes of Scream, and had been a fan prior to that. He is a director with a clear vision and passion for the material. We’re thrilled to have this combination of great talent behind this film.”
The first in a two-part book series, Eat, Brains, Love follows high schoolers Jake and his crush, Amanda, who have contracted a mysterious zombie virus and devoured the brains of half their senior class. Now the two are on the run from Cass, a teen psychic sent by the government’s top-secret Necrotic Control Division to track them down. As Jake and Amanda deal with the existential guilt of eating their best friends and set off in search of a cure for the zombie virus, Cass struggles with a growing psychic dilemma of her own – one that will lead all three of them on an epic journey across the country and make them question what it means to truly be alive… or undead.
In addition to One Tree Hill, Herro and Strauss have worked on the VH1 series Hindsight, Reign and served as Co-Executive Producers on The Royals on E!. They are also Consulting Producers on the upcoming series American Woman on the Paramount Network.
Flender’s credits include Idle Hands, HBO’s Tales from the Crypt and most recently MTV’s reboot of the Scream franchise. He also directed episodes of The Office on NBC and the documentary, Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop. He is repped by WME and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
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