Zack Snyder‘s horror remake Dawn of The Dead (penned by James Gunn) is arguably one of the filmmaker’s most accessible feature films to date. So, having the the director return to the zombie/action-horror genre with Army of The Dead for Netflix is exciting for a multitude of reasons.
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.
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Zack reveals that the film had been lingering at Warner Bros. for years but the studio ultimately didn’t want to make it because of the money involved for the budget that would have taken to get it made the way that Snyder wanted.
SNYDER: “They didn’t want to spend that kind of money on a zombie movie, or just didn’t take it that seriously. I was always like, ‘Look guys, this is more than [just a zombie movie],’ but it fizzled out.”
Ultimately, the streaming giant Netflix picked-up Army of The Dead after they loved the pitch detailed by Snyder. They’ve been so enthused about the project, Netflix also recently wrapped on a prequel film last month directed by franchise actor Matthias Schweighofer.
SNYDER: “We were in a meeting at Netflix and I was talking about some of these scripts I was working on. And I mentioned the idea to [Netflix head of original films Scott Stuber] and he was like, ‘That is the movie! Go write that movie and let’s make it.’ I was like, ‘What, do you mean now?’ And he’s like, ‘Go write it tomorrow and we’ll do shoot it in a week.'”
Netflix obviously has few roadblocks concerning budgets for their projects as they notably spend a hefty amount of money on original programming, however, The Gray Man from The Russo Brothers will be their first film budgeted over $200 million competing on the level of major film studios.
Army of The Dead’s large cast consists of Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana De La Reguera, Theo Rossi, Huma Qureshi, Omari Hardwick, Hiroyuki Sanada, Garret Dillahunt, Matthias Schweighöfer, Raúl Castillo, Nora Arnezeder, Tig Notaro, and Samantha Win.
It’s expected to drop later this year and Netflix is banking on it becoming their new horror franchise. A trailer is likely on the horizon given the new promotion for the film.
SOURCE: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
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