Army of the Dead star Dave Bautista asserts that the upcoming zombie heist film is more than just blood and guts. The full-length trailer for the high-anticipated Netflix film was released last week, offering a glimpse at Zack Snyder's long-awaited return to the genre.

Army of the Dead was directed by Zack Snyder and stars Bautista as Scott Ward, Ella Purnell as Kate Ward, Omari Hardwick as Vanderohe, and Ana de la Reguera as Cruz. Snyder, who spent the last decade directing DC films like Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and HBO Max's Justice League, wrote the film’s screenplay with Shay Hatten and Joby Harold. The film follows a group of mercenaries who conduct a heist in a Las Vegas casino during the height of a zombie outbreak.

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The DCEU filmmaker is returning to his zombie apocalypse roots. Synder’s first film, Dawn of the Dead (2004), saw a group of human survivors struggle to defend themselves against a large flock of zombies. The film, written by future The Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, served as a re-envisioning of George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. Snyder previously revealed that making Army of the Dead was the most satisfying experience of his career. 

During the Army of the Dead panel at Justice Con, Bautista said he’s obsessed with the film and has already seen it five times. The former WWE star also noted that the blockbuster is not over the top with gore and is “head and shoulders above” the traditional zombie apocalypse film. “It is a zombie apocalypse, but there’s so much going on so it’s not just that,” said Bautista, while adding, “it’s a zombie apocalypse film but it’s not over the top gory. You’re not taking the cheap way out where it’s just focused on the blood and guts and gore.”

Last year, Netflix announced they were producing both an Army of the Dead prequel film and anime series. The animated prequel series, titled Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas, will take place in the early days of the apocalypse, exploring the origin story of Bautista’s Ward and where the zombies came from. The cast includes Joe Manganiello (Justice League) as Rose, Christian Slater (Mr. Robot) as Torrance, Harry Lennix (The Blacklist) as Boorman, Ross Butler (13 Reasons Why) as Chen, and Anya Chalotra (The Witcher) as Lucilia.

Meanwhile, the live-action prequel movie called Army of Thieves was directed by Matthias Schweighöfer and will center on his own Army of the Dead character, Ludwig Dieter. Nathalie Emmanuel, Guz Khan, and Stuart Martin also star in the project, while Zack Snyder and his wife Deborah Snyder are the producers. The film reportedly concluded filming in Germany last December.

Army of the Dead will be released on Netflix on May 21, 2021.

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Source: Justice Con|YouTube