First look at Zack Snyder’s zombie heist movie ‘Army of the Dead’

Three words: Zombie Heist Movie. Sold!

A couple of new photos have just been released for Zack Snyder’s upcoming zombie heist flick, Army of the Dead.

The film, which is being produced for Netflix, is set amid “a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, during which a man assembles a group of mercenaries to take the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantined zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted.”

The exclusive first look images shared by Entertainment Weekly features a group shot of the mercenaries and a tighter shot of protagonist Dave Bautista, who plays a dad trying to save his daughter during a zombie outbreak.

Get an exclusive behind the scenes look at 'Army of the Dead' with director @ZackSnyder and star @DaveBautista. https://t.co/1y5bgNBshT

— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) January 6, 2021

In the EW interview released with the images, Snyder described the upcoming film as a "full-blown, balls-to-the-wall zombie heist movie, so it's genre-on-genre in a great way." 

The project, which has been in development limbo for over a decade, was originally announced in 2008 and conceived as a sequel to the remake of Dawn of the Dead (2004), Snyder’s feature film debut, which was responsible for bringing the whole zombie genre back to life.

Snyder, who went on to helm 300 (2006), Man of Steel (2013) and the upcoming director’s cut of Justice League (2021), shared new film details to EW along with the photos.

"So you expect pure zombie mayhem, and you get that, 100 percent. But also you get these really amazing characters on a fantastic journey. It's going to surprise people that there's a lot of warmth and real emotion with these great characters."

As reported by ScreenRant, despite the lack of initial interest, Dave Bautista eventually turned down a role in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad so he could star in Army of the Dead. 

"I said I wasn't interested," Bautista said. "I had this chip on my shoulder and was looking for juicy (dramatic roles). Then I read the script and it was a lot deeper and had more layers than I thought. And also, to be quite frank, I wanted to work with Zack."

Before gaining worldwide recognition as Drax the Destroyer in the Guardians of the Galaxy and other MCU films, Bautista was a professional wrestler with WWE. The actor has also appeared in films like Spectre and Blade Runner 2049, and will appear in the highly anticipated Dune later this year.

Army of the Dead features a large ensemble international cast including Ella Purnell (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children), Ana de la Reguera (Power, Goliath), Theo Rossi (Luke Cage, Sons of Anarchy), Humesh Quereshi (Kaala), Hiroyuki Sanada (Westworld, The Last Ship), Omari Hardwick (Power, Kick-Ass), Tig Notaro (Star Trek: Discovery), Garret Dillahunt (Fear the Walking Dead, The Gifted), Raúl Castillo (Vida, Atypical), Nora Arnezeder (Origin, Mozart in the Jungle, Matthias Schweighöfer (You Are Wanted, The Command), Samantha Win (Wonder Woman, Mortal Kombat: Legacy) and Rich Cetrone (Sleepy Hollow, Man of Steel).

Snyder is also producing a film prequel, which wrapped up production last December 2020, and an anime series for Netflix to expand the world established in the upcoming zombie heist flick.

That’s a wrap on Army of the Dead: The Prequel. Thanks to all the cast & crew and Netflix #armyofthedead #aotd pic.twitter.com/GvwAKVyjse

— Zack Snyder (@ZackSnyder) December 22, 2020

The animated series will be titled Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas and will serve as an origin story for Bautista's Scott and his rescue crew as they confront the mysterious source of the zombie outbreak during the initial fall of Las Vegas.

No specific release date has been given for Army of the Dead, but it is expected to premiere on Netflix sometime in 2021.

(Images by Clay Enos/Netflix via Entertainment Weekly)