Zombieland killed off Star Wars' Mark Hamill in original script

Two awesome movie universes could have (briefly) collided, as the team behind Zombieland have revealed that they would've loved to have had Star Wars' Mark Hamill on board for a cameo – only to, er, kill him off, as per the first published draft of the movie's script.

Over the weekend, executive producer Paul Wernick tweeted that while he "used the force", he unfortunately got a "forceful f**k no" from Hamill. Sad times.

He went on to explain that his first choice for a cameo was none other than the late hip-swinging Dirty Dancing heartthrob Patrick Swayze, followed by Sylvester Stallone, and then Hamill.

Related: Zombieland already had a sequel that you almost certainly missed

Of course, Bill Murray ended up doing a cameo for the movie, but Wernick insisted that the team hadn’t considered Murray because they "we would have never in our wildest imagination thought we could get him".

Wernick had it all mapped out for if Hamill gave his team the "yes", though. Hamill was due to appear as a zombie while Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) watch the original Star Wars in the Luke Skywalker star's house. Like you would, during the apocalypse.

Had Hamill appeared, he would've taken Darth Vader’s lightsaber from the wall and fought the duo. Even better, Hamill was due to get his hand cut off in true Empire Strikes Back style.

Watch Now Zombieland (2009)

Hamill would've eventually died from Tallahassee body slamming him, and his head slamming into a concrete planter. Lovely. Guess his zombie form didn't have the Force to help him out.

As things worked out, Murray's cameo in the final cut of Zombieland involved him being killed by the team of zombie hunters, confused for being a zombie. Oops.

Of course, as much as we love the original, how cool would it have been to see a lightsaber-based zombie showdown with the man himself?

Disney+ Sign up for Disney+

Shop at Disney+

Disney/Lucasfilm Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

£4 at Amazon

Disney/Lucasfilm Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Complete Box Set [Blu-ray] [2019] [Region Free]

£100 at Amazon

Century Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Expanded Edition) by Rae Carson

£8 at Amazon

Disney/Lucasfilm Star Wars - The Complete Saga (Episodes I-VI) [Blu-ray] [1977] [Region Free]

£73 at Amazon

Disney/Lucasfilm Star Wars: The Original Trilogy (Episodes IV-VI) [Blu-ray] [1977] [Region Free]

£33 at Amazon

Disney/Lucasfilm Star Wars: The Force Awakens [Blu-ray] [2015] [Region Free]

£6 at Amazon

Disney/Lucasfilm Star Wars: The Last Jedi [4K UHD] [Blu-ray] [2017]

£10 at Amazon

Disney/Lucasfilm Rogue One: A Star Wars Story [Blu-ray] [2017] [Region Free]

£12 at Amazon

Disney/Lucasfilm Solo: A Star Wars Story [4K] [Blu-ray] [2018] [Region Free]

£20 at Amazon

Digital Spy now has a newsletter – sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox.

Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Instagram and Twitter accounts.

Charley Ross

Charley Ross is a freelance sub-editor at Digital Spy, with equal weaknesses for Harry Potter and Scorsese movies.