Tag: Shay Hatten

Posted on in News

Zack Snyder Calls ‘Planet Of The Dead’ A “Sci-Fi Actioner With Horror Elements” With Another Possible Heist Angle

Zack Snyder and Netflix will continue their working relationship with the sci-fi film Rebel Moon, which reportedly has actress Sofia Boutella (Star Trek Beyond, Atomic Blonde, Kingsmen: The Secret Service) set for the lead female role. And there a direct sequel to Army of The Dead has been greenlit and will be shot by Snyder once he finishes up on Rebel Moon.

While speaking with Variety to help promote the prequel film Army of Thieves, Snyder dished some brief details on what they’re planning to do with the animated project Army of The Dead: Lost Vegas and the direct sequel Planet of The Dead.

“Shay [Hatten] and I have been talking about the straight sequel to Army of the Dead being possibly a sci-fi actioner with horror elements. So that’s a fun genre, probably with a heist at its center.”

While Army of The Dead very much was an horror actioner, the sci-fi stuff was on the sidelines with the hint to the time loop, the Area 51 convoy and the alien origin of the zombies not being a huge focus of the first film.

The filmmaker also zeroed in on the franchise’s sci-fi elements that could continue on.

“First of all, I know exactly what I’d want to see in the sequel. We’re doing the animated series, which will come out next year. The animated series very much delves deeply into the ‘why’ of the zombie apocalypse and where the zombies come from exactly. I think the time loops, portals, doorways to other realms, things of that nature, are very much in play. So all of those clues that Dieter gives us are very much part of how we continue to spiral out the Army of the Dead universe.”

Maybe, we’ll see a new team trying to break into an Area 51 bunker?

The Area 51 and alien origin could be excellent fodder for an Aliens-inspired zombie movie, but we’ll have to wait and see what they end up doing there. I’d personally love to see the sequel barrow elements from the arcade game Area 51 (soliders fighting zombies/aliens).

SOURCE: VARIETY

Posted on in Film News, News

Zack Snyder Will Make ‘Army Of The Dead 2’ After He Finishes ‘Rebel Moon’; Could It Explore Area 51 Or Alien Origin?

The other week it was announced that Zack Snyder would be reuniting with Netflix for his sci-fi Rebel Moon, that he plans on shooting next and is based on his old Star Wars pitch that would homage the classic samurai movie “Seven Samurai” directed by the legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.

The story is set in motion when a peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy is threatened by the armies of a tyrannical regent named Balisarius. Desperate people dispatch a young woman with a mysterious past to seek out warriors from neighboring planets to help them make a stand.

Today, it was announced that Zack Snyder and Deborah Snyder’s Stone Quarry Productions have signed a first-look deal with Netflix. The deal revealed from The Hollywood Reporter, includes Army of The Dead 2 that will be written by Shay Hatten and will shoot after Rebel Moon. Rebel Moon is said to begin shooting in 2022 with franchise early plans for sequels and spinoff installments.

We don’t know exactly how the sequel will focus on but there are some breadcrumbs our there.

The opening sequence from Army of The Dead with the military convoy transporting Zeus, seemingly gave the impression it came from Area 51 and Zack Snyder has teased the alien connection the zombies’ origin (explaining the blue glow is alien in origin). Producer Deborah Snyder spoke to IndieWire a few months back reiterating that but teased future projects could cover that angle, but tried not to exactly spoil things.

“We hint in the movie that we’re coming from Area 51, so maybe there’s a sci-fi element to it. I’m not going to say for sure, but it’s really fun to be able to do that and also to see our team when they were at the top of their game, doing the search and rescue. It’s just another bit of information. Our movie takes place after the pandemic, they’ve contained the zombies to Vegas, but we don’t really talk about where it comes from. Where did this pathogen come from? How did this all happen? And we see our team and that they had been on these rescue missions. We see some flashbacks, what they were doing, but we don’t really know more, so the anime series is a great way to find out the origin of this,” producer Deborah Snyder teased about the alien/Area 51 linkage when speaking with IndieWire.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed for aliens, martians or a huge underground facility/Area 51 in the sequel.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in News

‘Rebel Moon’: Zack Synder Brings His Old ‘Seven Samurai’ Inspired ‘Star Wars’ Film Idea To Netflix & Will Direct Next

Netflix and Zack Snyder are expanding their working relationship as The Hollywood Reporter reveals his next project will be a another genre pic for the streaming giant. He’ll direct an original sci-fi Rebel Moon, a script was penned by Snyder, Shay Hatten, and Kurt Johnstad.

The story is set in motion when a peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy is threatened by the armies of a tyrannical regent named Balisarius. Desperate people dispatch a young woman with a mysterious past to seek out warriors from neighboring planets to help them make a stand.

Rebel Moon is pretty much a reworked version of his original Star Wars pitch to Lucasfilm from back in 2012. As Snyder wanted to make a Jedi film that was inspired by the Akira Kurosawa samurai film Seven Samurai. Removing all the “Star Wars” elements to make it legally distinctive from a galaxy far far away (title is an obvious nod to Star Wars’ Rebel Alliance and the moon of Endor). He had teased back in May that idea has been transformed into another project entirely.

SEVEN SAMURAI – A samurai answers a village’s request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food. A giant battle occurs when 40 bandits attack the village.

Snyder working with Netflix back-to-back on Army of The Dead and now Rebel Moon, could suggest an overall deal with the streaming service could be in the cards for the filmmaker.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

Producer Deborah Snyder Says They’re “Ready To Go” If Netflix Wants An ‘Army of The Dead’ Sequel

[MAJOR SPOILERS FOR ARMY OF THE DEAD AHEAD]

Netflix and Zack Snyder are going full-franchise with Army of The Dead as the first film was released last week and seems like it’ll be a big hit for the streaming service which releases mostly iffy-to-average original films. The film takes place mostly after a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas has been contained and a group is to put together to heist $200 million from a casino vault before the U.S. government drops a nuke on the city.

In my opinion, Army of The Dead is one of the more cinematic films made specifically for Netflix and the company knows what they have in their hands as they’ve shot a prequel film Army of Thieves and are working on an anime series called Army of The Dead: Lost Vegas with a handful of returning characters.

The main film ended on a bit of a cliffhanger as Omari Hardwick’s Vanderohe’s escapes the nuclear blast to charter a private plane to Mexico City only to realize he’s turning into a zombie. If he is an Alpha Zombie, it could easily lead directly into a solid sequel set in Mexico taking the genre outside of the United States, which doesn’t regularly happen with western takes on the genre. Producer Deborah Snyder teased a potential sequel while speaking with Indie Wire, as Snyder suggests that Zack Snyder and screenwriter Shay Hatten already have ideas for another film and are “ready to go” if Netflix wants to make it.

DEBORAH SNYDER:  “You always want the version that you’re doing to be as good as it can be, but I think there’s still more story to tell, and I know that Zack and Shay have a lot of ideas that are kind of fleshed out. If there was an appetite for another film, I think we’re ready to go.”

The producer also gave some insight into the prequel film Army of Thieves mentioning the project focused on Matthias Schweighofer’s Ludwig Dieter is similar to The Italian Job, adding it’s a romantic comedy heist film.

SNYDER: “It stands alone, and [while] you could watch it because it’s the history of our safecracker, it’s also just this really sweet, funny film,” she said. “It’s set in our same timeline, but it’s not like a zombie movie. … It’s more like ‘The Italian Job,’ but it takes place in a world where these zombies exist in America and it’s causing instability in the banking institutions. They’re moving money around, so it’s the perfect opportunity for a heist.”

Will the anime Army of The Dead: Lost Vegas, led by Joe Manganiello as Rose, explore the origins of the zombie pathogen and that tease to Area 51? Well, Deborah seems to be giving the impression it just might.

SNYDER: “We hint in the movie that we’re coming from Area 51, so maybe there’s a sci-fi element to it. I’m not going to say for sure, but it’s really fun to be able to do that and also to see our team when they were at the top of their game, doing the search and rescue. It’s just another bit of information.”

“Our movie takes place after the pandemic, they’ve contained the zombies to Vegas, but we don’t really talk about where it comes from. Where did this pathogen come from? How did this all happen? And we see our team and that they had been on these rescue missions. We see some flashbacks, what they were doing, but we don’t really know more, so the anime series is a great way to find out the origin of this.”

I’m kind of curious if they’ll attempt to connect the zombies to aliens or Mars, which might lead to some interesting sci-fi spinoffs potentially off-world alongside expanding upon this universe as having more threats other than zombies being hidden away at Area 51 and Zeus is simply just one that got out.

It sounds like we’ll have plenty of Army of The Dead content for years to come.

SOURCE: INDIE WIRE

Posted on in Film News

Zack Snyder’s Zombie Flick ‘Army of The Dead’ Getting A Prequel Movie and Anime Series Titled ‘Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas’

Netflix announced today via Variety that Zack Snyder’s upcoming zombie genre action flick Army of The Dead will be getting a prequel film and an “anime” series. 

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.

Army of The Dead’s 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, and Samantha Win. 

It was recently announced that stand-up comedian and actress Tig Notaro would be joining the film as well. 

Shay Hatten will write the prequel and anime series. 

Matthias Schweighöfer, who plays Ludwig Dieter will direct and focuses on his character. 

The anime series titled Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas follows Dave Bautista’s character with Jay Oliva (The Dark Knight Returns) showrunning and directing a couple of episodes. 

Most of the shows being labeled as anime by Netflix aren’t part of that genre and it seems to be a blanket marketing term used by the streaming service, we’ll have to wait and see if it applies to this show. 

SOURCE: VARIETY