Tuesday July 22, 05:00 PM

Benderspink gives life to big-screen 'Zombies'

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Red 5 Comics' recently released horror/action comic "ZMDs: Zombies of Mass Destruction" has been targeted for a film adaptation.

Hollywood management and production company Benderspink has picked up the film rights to "ZMD," which was written by "Underworld" writer Kevin Grevioux.

"ZMD" tells the story of a government weapons program that drops zombies, designed to be photosensitive and dissolve by a set time, into war zones at night to destroy the enemy population. But after one fails to self-destruct in the Middle East, a team of elite soldiers must enter hostile territory to stop a growing zombie army.

Red 5 Comics was created by Paul Ens, former director of Lucasfilm's StarWars.com and Lucas Online, and Scott Chitwood, co-founder of TheForce.net and contributor to ComingSoon.net and SuperHeroHype.com. The company, based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, began publishing its first books in the fall.

Benderspink has carved a niche in comic-book adaptations, setting up such projects as "Y: The Last Man" and "Drafted" at New Line, "Pencilneck" at Lionsgate and "Pet Robots" at Disney.

Grevioux is a stuntman and actor-turned-film and comics writer. He launched two comic book imprints and has been tapped to write "New Warriors" for Marvel Comics.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter