Ahead of Army of the Dead‘s 2021 release, Netflix is already starting to expand Zack Snyder’s newest zombie universe as they officially commissioned the production of two new spinoff projects in form of an untitled multi-language prequel film and an original anime series titled Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas.
“I’m incredibly excited for the opportunity to partner with Netflix again as we expand the Army of the Dead universe with both an international prequel, as well as exploring the visually dynamic world of animation. It’s been a great collaboration and we are thrilled that Netflix sees this as big of an IP as we do.” Snyder said in a statement. (via The Futon Critic)
RELATED: Zack Snyder Discusses Justice League and The Batman
The untitled prequel will be directed by and star Grimme Award winner Matthias Schweighöfer and will follow his Army of the Dead character “Ludwig Dieter”. The movie will be produced out of Germany. The film will be produced by Deborah Snyder, Zack Snyder, and Wesley Coller of The Stone Quarry and Matthias Schweighöfer and Dan Maag of PANTALEON Films.
Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas will chronicle the origin story of Scott (Dave Bautista) and his rescue crew during the initial fall of Vegas as they confront the mysterious source of the zombie outbreak. Zack Snyder will direct 2 episodes of the anime series. Jay Oliva (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and upcoming Netflix Original Anime Series Trese) will be showrunning as well as directing 2 episodes of the series.
The series will be Executive Produced by Deborah Snyder, Zack Snyder, Wesley Coller from The Stone Quarry alongside Jay Olivia and Shay Hatten. Bautista, Ana de la Reguera, Tig Notaro, Omari Hardwick, and Ella Purnell will reprise their roles in the anime series.
Written by Joby Harold and Shay Hatten from a story by Snyder, Army of the Dead will follow the story of a man who recruits a group of mercenaries to pull off the ultimate heist amidst a zombie apocalypse. It is consists of an ensemble cast, including Dave Bautista (Stuber), Omari Hardwick (Kick-Ass), Tig Notaro (Instant Family), Hiroyuki Sanada (Westworld), Raul Castillo (Vida), Nora Arnezeder (Origin), Matthias Schweighöfer (The Manny), Samantha Win (Wonder Woman), Rich Cetrone (Thor) and Garrett Dillahunt (Fear the Walking Dead).
“The movie takes place in Las Vegas,” Snyder previously said. “A zombie plague hits Vegas, and they’re able to contain the virus to the city – they build a wall out of shipping containers. And then the city falls. And six years later, one of the casino owners hires this group of zombie soldiers to go get his money that he left in a safe in the casino.”
Snyder has been working on the film since 2007, originally having it in development at Warner Bros. Now, the project is in development at Netflix. Word is the streaming service is sparing no expense with a budget reportedly in the $70 million to $90 million range. The Justice League director will produce alongside his wife Deborah Snyder for The Stone Quarry with Wesley Collar. Ori Marmu and Andrew Norman will oversee for Netflix. Principal photography is scheduled to begin this July.
RELATED: Director Zack Snyder Shows Off Army of the Dead First Look
The filmmaker’s last zombie pic was also his first — 2004’s Dawn of the Dead starring Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames and Michael Kelly, among others. Since then he has mostly stayed close to the comic book genre with 300, Watchmen, Man of Steel, and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as the anime-inspired action epic Sucker Punch.
