( CNN ) -- Hundreds of people attending Comic-Con in San Diego , California , will transform into zombies on Thursday . A `` zombie walk '' at Comic-Con will promote the upcoming `` Zombieland '' movie . They 'll converge in a `` zombie walk '' through the San Diego Convention Center to promote Woody Harrelson 's upcoming post-apocalyptic comedy , `` Zombieland . '' Comic-Con is an annual gathering of 125,000 people whose interests include comic book and science fiction film and TV , anime , toys and video games . Major movie studios and TV networks use the convention to launch their latest productions . Zombie movies have been on the rise in recent years , and the type of zombies on the big screen has been evolving with the times . George Romero 's 1968 film `` Night of the Living Dead '' -- followed by `` Dawn of the Dead '' -- popularized zombies `` based on the original Haitian voodoo kind of zombie , the supernatural being , the walking dead or the undead , '' said `` Zombieland '' director Ruben Fleischer . Zombie films made `` a seismic shift in zombies with Danny Boyle 's film '28 Days Later , ' where it became a more viral-based thing , a diseased population , as opposed to from the grave , '' Fleischer said . In `` Zombieland , '' living people are infected by a fast-spreading virus that turns them into `` this other being '' that is fast , ferocious and flesh-eating , he said . `` These modern zombies are reflective of some of the perils of what can happen with overpopulation and disease control and how quickly things can spread and become a problem . '' iReport.com : Going to Comic-Con ? Fleischer , along with screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick , consulted a disease expert `` to get to the bottom of what the modern pandemic would be , '' he said . `` When swine flu happened , it was after we finished shooting , but it just really reminded me of how these things can spread so quickly and a whole population can be devastated , '' he said . While about 500 extras were hired to be zombies in Fleischer 's movie , even more Comic-Con participants could take part in Thursday 's zombie walk . Sony has hired professional makeup artists to get them ready . Fleischer said those portraying a modern zombie should think like `` a rabid dog . '' Do n't lumber along like Frankenstein 's monster , but move with `` a real furious anger and intensity '' and `` a lot of grunting and snarling and growling , '' he said . `` Zombies do n't talk . '' Hunger is a modern zombie 's chief motivation , he said : `` I think that they 're definitely cannibalistic . They want to eat people . '' What does a modern zombie wear ? Fleischer 's zombies come as they are , whether in a work uniform or dressed for the mall . `` It 's as if you were at the mall and some zombies attacked and everyone there got turned into a zombie , '' he said . `` They 'd be wearing the same clothes that they had before . They 'd be dressed in the same way . '' Fleischer developed a list of 150 types of zombies for his film , including construction workers , moms , a punk rocker and preppie zombies . `` They 're just people who got infected , like a modern pandemic , '' he said . `` Zombieland '' -- which hits theaters October 9 -- brings out the humor in killing zombies , which is Harrelson 's specialty . `` They 're not easy to kill , so sometimes you 've got to get them more than once , '' Fleischer said . `` You 've got to make sure you get them because they 'll keep coming if you do n't . '' Harrelson blamed post-traumatic stress from filming for his scuffle with a TMZ photographer at an airport the day after shooting wrapped in Georgia in April . `` With my daughter at the airport I was startled by a paparazzo who I quite understandably mistook for a zombie , '' Harrelson said . While Harrelson will be at Comic-Con to promote the movie , it was not known if he would be kept away from Thursday 's zombie walk .
Some Comic - Con attendees will be zombies to celebrate new film . ` ` Zombieland , '' starring Woody Allen , to debut in October . Comic - Con draws more than 5000 attendees annually .