LOS ANGELES , California ( CNN ) -- Like all zombie movies , `` Zombieland '' has hundreds of zombies doing awful things , such as attacking and eating humans , but you could argue it 's not a zombie movie . Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson find themselves battling the undead in `` Zombieland . '' Zombie hordes do chase the main characters in a post-apocalyptic world , but the focus is on the comedy 's stars , including two Oscar nominees -- Woody Harrelson and Abigail Breslin -- along with Jesse Eisenberg and Emma Stone . ( Spoiler alert : A third Oscar nominee makes a remarkable cameo appearance , but this story will avoid spoiling the surprise by naming him . ) `` We wanted to make a cool , kick-ass road movie about a dysfunctional family traveling across the country and zombies provide us the antagonists , the threat that our characters need to come together , '' said Paul Wernick , who wrote the screenplay with partner Rhett Reese . In fact , Wernick had only seen one zombie film before writing this script . Reese , who is a fan of the genre , kept the story on a track that would feed zombie fans ' hunger for blood-and-guts action . `` [ The ] zombie genre is so well traveled , there is really no reason to get into it unless we could do it in a fresh , different way , '' Reese said . `` We were almost forced to think outside the box to make it an entertaining zombie movie . '' `` Zombieland '' is set in the United States months after a fast-moving virus begins turning most people into flesh-eating zombies . A handful of survivors come together to fight back . Wernick and Reese literally rewrote the rules for zombie films in this movie . Eisenberg 's character is an obsessive-compulsive man who developed 47 rules -- such as `` fasten your seat belt '' -- designed to help him survive in Zombieland . While Eisenberg journeys to find his parents , he joins Harrelson , a zombie killer who is searching for the last Hostess Twinkie before its expiration date . Stone and Breslin play sisters who survive on their con artist skills . Their goal is to reach a California amusement park , which they think could be free of zombies . The cross-country trip these four characters share resembles `` National Lampoon 's Vacation '' -- if written and directed by Quentin Tarantino . Watch the stars of the film talk about zombie fans » . Wernick said they wanted to be `` very freewheeling . '' The movie `` gives the audience the thrill of the journey , '' he said . `` We wanted to take some wild turns . '' `` The rules that we lived by when writing this is in fact that there are no rules , '' he said . `` Zombieland '' may be to zombies what Tarantino 's `` Inglourious Basterds '' is to Nazis . Wernick and Reese , who have been close friends since high school , often finish each other 's sentences as if they were an old married couple . `` When we were trying to get 'Zombieland ' off the ground back in the early days , we ... '' Wernick said . `` ... assaulted Tarantino at an awards show , to try to get him to read the script , '' Reese said . `` That did n't work out , '' Wernick said in conclusion to their joint thought . `` He thought we were zombies coming after him . '' `` Zombieland , '' directed by Rubin Fleischer , offers many of the same elements as a Tarantino film . `` [ Tarantino ] is all about dialogue , character , irreverence , pop culture and we love all those things over the years , '' Reese said . `` We have always been inspired by him . '' The writers had to run through a number of actors before finding the person for the 10-minute cameo . Among them was Patrick Swayze , the writers ' first choice . Swayze , who died just two weeks before the movie 's release , turned down the role because of ill health earlier this year . Also asked : Joe Pesci , Steven Seagal , Jean-Claude Van Damme , Dwayne `` The Rock '' Johnson , Matthew McConaughey , Mark Hamill , Kevin Bacon and Sylvester Stallone . They were asked , but either did n't want the role or were not available , according to Wernick and Reese . With just a few days before filming the scenes , they asked Harrelson to look in his cell phone for names and numbers . He came up with a man who 's been an Oscar nominee and Emmy winner . And now , he 's got a key role in a zombie film .
In new movie ` ` ' , '' focus is on the stars and the story . Movie 's stars : Woody Harrelson , Abigail Breslin . One of film 's stars had made just one comedy film in his life . Among movie 's surprises : a cameo from an Oscar - nominated actor .