Introduction

Army of the Dead is an upcoming American zombie heist film directed by Zack Snyder, from a script he wrote with Shay Hatten and Joby Harold, based on a story by Snyder.

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Outline

Following a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries take the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantine zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted.

Cast

• Dave Bautista as Scott Ward.
• Ella Purnell as Kate Ward.
• Ana de la Reguera as Cruz.
• Matthias Schweighöfer as Ludwig Dieter.
• Nora Arnezeder as Lily “The Coyote”.
• Hiroyuki Sanada as Hunter Bly.
• Raúl Castillo as Mikey Guzman.
• Michael Cassidy.
• Garret Dillahunt as Frank Peters.
• Omari Hardwick as Vanderohe.
• Tig Notaro as Marianne Peters.
• Samantha Win as Chambers.
• Theo Rossi as Burt Cummings.
• Huma Qureshi as Geeta.
• Richard Cetrone as Zeus.
• Chelsea Edmundson as Misty Hillman.
• Steve Corona as Mr. Hillman.

Production

The project was first announced in March 2007. Universal Studios and Warner Bros. Entertainment were on board to co-produce the project. Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. signed on to serve as director. By January 2019, after lingering in development Hell for a number of years, Netflix acquired the distribution rights to the project from Warner Bros. with Zack Snyder directing. The filmmaker also serves as co-screenwriter with Shay Hatten, based on the story treatment by Snyder and Joby Harold. The film entered principal photography in mid-2019, with a reported budget of $90 million.

Casting

Dave Bautista was cast in April 2019, while Ella Purnell, Ana de la Reguera, Theo Rossi, and Huma Qureshi joined the cast in May.

In July 2019, Garret Dillahunt, Raúl Castillo, Omari Hardwick, Chris D’Elia, Hiroyuki Sanada, Nora Arnezeder, Matthias Schweighöfer, Samantha Jo and Rich Cetrone joined the cast of the film. In August 2020, Tig Notaro was announced to replace D’Elia, who was cut from the film due to sexual misconduct allegations. Notaro will be inserted into the film through a combination of reshooting scenes opposite an acting partner and also using digital compositing to insert her into the scene.

Filming

Principal photography began on 15 July 2019, in Los Angeles, California, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Filming also took place at the now closed Atlantic Club Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Snyder served as his own cinematographer, and shot the film with custom-made Red Digital Cinema cameras.

Post Production

By March 2021, Snyder confirmed that work on the film had officially been completed.

Future

In September 2020, it was announced that a prequel film and an anime-style television series are in development to expand the franchise.

Anime Series

The anime will be titled Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas and will centre around some of the characters from Army of the Dead during the early phases of the zombie outbreak.

Prequel

Matthias Schweighöfer will star in, and direct the Army of the Dead: The Prequel, which takes place before the events of Army of the Dead and focuses on Schweighöfer’s character, Ludwig Dieter. The film will also star Nathalie Emmanuel, Guz Khan, Ruby O. Fee, Stuart Martin, Jonathan Cohen, Noemie Nakai and Peter Simonischek which began development in October 2020. Filming wrapped in December 2020.

Trivia

• Chris D’Elia filmed his role along with the cast.
  • In the summer of 2020, stories broke about him pursuing underage girls for sex and sexually harassing women.
  • Zack Snyder hired comedian Tig Notaro to replace D’Elia.
  • Notaro was filmed alone and inserted into the film for all of the scenes D’Elia was in via green screen and other special effects.
• Dawn of the Dead (2004) writer James Gunn didn’t return to write the script due to scheduling conflicts with The Suicide Squad (2021).
• The movie is filmed in The former Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, in Atlantic City, which has been closed since 13 January 2014.
  • The casino was also known as the Golden Nugget, the Hilton and the Bally’s Grand.
  • Filmed during late summer of 2019 dozens of air conditioning units were brought into the long shuttered hotel.
• Unlike Dawn of the Dead (2004), this film will not be based on any George A. Romero work.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s):
  • Zack Snyder.
• Producer(s):
  • Zack Snyder … producer (p.g.a.).
  • Bergen Swanson … executive producer.
  • Misha Bukowski … associate producer.
  • Wesley Coller … producer (p.g.a.).
  • Deborah Snyder … producer (p.g.a.).
• Writer(s):
  • Zack Snyder … (screenplay and story by).
  • Shay Hatten … (screenplay by).
  • Joby Harold … (screenplay by).
• Music:
  • Junkie XL.
• Cinematography:
  • Zack Snyder.
• Editor(s):
  • Dody Dorn.
• Production:
  • The Stone Quarry.
• Distributor(s):
  • Netflix (2021) (World-wide) (video) (VOD).
• Release Date: 21 May 2021.
• Running Time: ? minutes.
• Rating: 18.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

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