Army of the Deadproved to be a big hit for Netflix with the streamer setting up many new projects surrounding this franchise along with other projects involving director, Zack Snyder. One of these isArmy of Thieves, a prequel produced by Snyder and his wife, and starring Matthias Schweighöfer, reprising his role along with directing the new film.
The poster seesMatthias Schweighöfer in character from Army of the Dead, Ludwig Dieter, standing in a large orange background surrounded by a safe lock. The premise of the film will see Dieter in the days before the zombie outbreak being recruited by a mysterious woman to pull off a heist with the help of a misfit crew of ambitious thieves. The cast includes Nathalie Emmanuel, Guz Khan, Ruby O. Fee, Stuart Martin, Jonathan Cohen, Noemie Nakai, and Peter Simonischek.
In addition toArmy of Thieves, ananime spin-off of Army of the Deadis also in the works. According to Screenrant,Army of Thieveshas a release date of “Fall 2021” while the anime spin-off is set to be released in “Spring 2022.”
Snyder is coming off a big first half of the year. Including his zombie-heist film for Netflix, March saw theSnyder Cut of Justice League debut on HBO Max. The Snyder Cut was met with mostly positive reviews and since then, Snyder has taken his talents from Warner Bros. to Netflix.
Recently, Snyder and his wife and producing partner, Deborah, signed a two-year first-look deal with Netflix through their Stone Quarry Productions banner. As part of this deal,Snyder’s upcoming projects will go straight to Netflix, including the recently announced sci-fi adventure flick,Rebel Moon. According to Collider, while not much is known aboutRebel Moon, it will be “influenced byStar Warsand the work of Akira Kurosawa.”
Netflix Film Head, Scott Stuber, issued a statement sharing his excitement towards continuing to work with the Snyder duo. “I’ve known Zack and Deb for years and was fortunate to be part ofDawn of the Dead, his first film,” Stuber said in a statement. “I have since had the privilege of watching his career grow and see the evolving impact of his work. To see him return to his roots withArmy of the Dead, which is now one of our most popular films, and build a world out of these characters with the upcomingArmy of Thievesand anime series, is amazing to see. We’ve only scratched the surface of what’s still to come and create with Zack, Deb, Wes and everyone at Stone Quarry.”
After the whole Warner Bros. debacle withJustice League, it’s nice to see the Snyder’s finding stability with Netflix and being given a place to develop new projects. With the success ofArmy of the Dead, Netflix and Snyder are investing a lot into future projects within this zombie universe.
