“Army of the Dead” marks Zack Snyder‘s return to a zombified world since his directorial debut, 2004’s remake of George A. Romero‘s “Dawn of the Dead.” While the two films are unrelated, they’ll undoubtedly share the same fast-paced, unrelenting action violence that first put Snyder on the Hollywood map.
The movie follows a group of mercenaries in Las Vegas who venture out of the quarantine zone to pull off a bank heist during an outbreak of the undead. Dave Bautista leads the soldiers-for-hire. Ella Purnell, Ana de la Reguera, Garret Dillahunt, Raul Castillo, Omari Hardwick, Tig Nataro, and Matthias Schweighöfer round out the large, multicultural ensemble cast.
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The film marks Snyder’s first film without Warner Bros. since 2006’s “300.” Part of that is because Netflix, who acquired the rights to the project back in early 2019, sees “Army of the Dead” as a movie with lucrative franchise potential. The streaming service has already announced a prequel film and an anime TV show to expand the world “Army of the Dead” depicts.
The prequel, starring and directed by Schweighöfer, who has a role in the first film, has reportedly already wrapped shooting after production began last October. U.K. actors Nathalie Emmanuelle, Guz Khan, and Stuart Martin are all part of the cast. Jay Oliver leads the creative team for the anime show, titled “Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas.”
“Army of the Dead” also marks the first time Snyder and Dave Bautista worked together. Bautista turned down a significant role in James Gunn‘s “The Suicide Squad” to work with Snyder on this film, a surprise given his relationship with Gunn from the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies.
With this inchoate franchise and the “Snydercut” of “Justice League” coming to HBO Max in March, Snyder looks to have a career renaissance of sorts in 2021. Will “Army of the Dead” make the same cultural splash “Dawn” made over fifteen years ago? Tune in to Netflix on May 21, 2021, when the film premieres. Watch the first teaser below