Zombies and vampires are headed to Bethlehem. After the apocalypse, that is.
"Bethlehem" is the working title of a movie whose script was bought this month by Universal Studios. Its production has been fast-tracked, according to several cinema websites.
The movie follows the last few humans struggling to survive a zombie apocalypse. The humans form an alliance with a vampire. They trade themselves as food in exchange for protection since, the script asserts, zombies don't eat vampires.

The vampire, in return, shepherds the humans to a safe haven in Bethlehem, Pa.
The movie has high-powered names involved.
It's being produced by Joe Roth Productions, the company behind the current Universal hit "Snow White & The Huntsman." The Kristen Stewart/Charlize Theron dark fairy tale has taken in more than $247 million worldwide since its June 1 release.
In a July 15 article for The Script magazine's website, "Bethlehem" screenwriter Larry Brenner says the script is a horror comedy originally titled "Flesh and Blood." It took third place in the 2010 Final Draft Big Break, a national screenwriting competition.
In The Script article, Brenner says the night he won the award, Palak Patel, the producer of "Snow White & The Huntsman" and a judge for the competition, told him "he wanted to make my movie, 'Bethlehem.' … That night changed my life."
Websites report that Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, visual effects supervisor and second unit director on "Huntsman," will make his directorial debut on "Bethlehem."
It's unclear whether Brenner has a connection to Bethlehem and why he chose to use it as the title and locale for his film.
Brenner, 35, is listed on Internet sites as a New York native and is an instructor at Bronx Community College in New York. In response to an email seeking an interview, Brenner declined at the recommendation of his agent, Martin Spencer at Creative Artists Agency.
Spencer responded to a request for an interview through an associate, who said it was "too early in the process" to talk about "Bethlehem."
The movie's synopsis posted on websites uses works such as "pilgrimage' and "shepherd," invoking a connection with the biblical Bethlehem.
The movie is just the latest of many, including a few blockbusters, with Lehigh Valley connections. An opening scene in the 2009 "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" was shot at the former Bethlehem Steel property in south Bethlehem.
Kathy McAuley, who recently retired as president of Lehigh Valley Film and Video Council, said she knew nothing about the film. Sue Mickley, a freelance location scout who works with the non-profit marketing group Discover Lehigh Valley, also had not heard of the movie. But "usually at the development stage they're not usually ready to go and scout locations," she said. "That may be the next step. It all depends.
"If they'e going to be in the area, they usually will call me at some point — someone who knows the local inventory."
Of course, just because the film's story is based in Bethlehem doesn't mean it will be filmed in the Lehigh Valley.
Brenner's script for "Bethlehem" appeared on The Black List, a list of unproduced screenplays, where it finished 14th in 2011. It also hit No. 2 on The Blood List, a horror/thriller/science fiction list of industry insiders' favorite scripts.


~http://www.mcall.com/