Director Zack Snyder had no clue Netflix’s Army of the Dead would become as big as it is. Following work on his long-awaited cut of Justice League, Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, and Wesley Coller’s production company, The Stone Quarry, partnered with Netflix to make this year’s Army of the Dead, a spiritual successor to Snyder’s 2004 debut film, Dawn of the Dead. Since its release in May, Army of the Dead has become one of the streamer’s most-watched movies of all time.
Army of the Dead stars Dave Bautista as a mercenary who is tasked with venturing into Las Vegas’ zombie-ridden quarantine zone and retrieving $200 million left underneath a casino. Therefore, Bautista’s character recruits a motley crew to pull off the seemingly impossible heist. Army of the Dead expands upon its already intriguing premise by introducing concepts like undead animals, alpha zombies, and even hinting at robot zombies. That said, Snyder and his production company have already signed a two-year first-look film deal with Netflix, entailing the prequel Army of Thieves focusing on safecracker Ludwig Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer).
As part of Comic-Con@Home 2021, Netflix hosted a virtual panel for Army of Thieves, which is produced by The Stone Quarry and directed by Schweighöfer. During the panel, producers Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, and Coller were asked if they had any clue how big Army of the Dead would become. Read Zack Snyder’s response below:
“No is the answer. [We were] talking to Netflix about the success so far and we were all laughing. For me, honestly, I was like ‘ah, this will be a fun genre romp’ and I had a feeling we could do it well and that people would enjoy it and that it would be big on the service, but what it's become has been very exciting for us because we really love this world too and to see it grow is really fun.”
Deborah Snyder then went on to talk about creating something wholly original after working on so many projects with their own canon. Everything they pitched seems to have been immediately approved by Netflix, including a horror anime series titled Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas. While a sequel to Army of the Dead has already been confirmed, Zack’s next unrelated project with Netflix is the sci-fi adventure, Rebel Moon.
The success of Army of Dead not only bodes well for upcoming projects within Snyder’s zombie universe but his future with Netflix. Snyder is easily one of the most-discussed directors of contemporary cinema. While fans continue to support the restoration of DC’s SnyderVerse, it sounds like his talents are being fully utilized with Netflix. The controversy surrounding the theatrical release of Justice League concerns itself with studio interference. Snyder's 4-hour cut of Justice League did so well on HBO Max thanks to it being largely unrestrained. As perhaps the face of creative integrity, Snyder has the support of his contemporaries and audiences alike. At this rate, Rebel Moon will be even bigger than Army of the Dead.
Source: Comic-Con International
