Origin Story: ‘Army of the Dead’

Army of the Dead was a must make film for me after Zack Snyder first pitched it to us nearly three years ago. It was fresh, bold, edgy and had the potential to be something big. Netflix was the perfect place for this type of original storytelling and I wanted to make sure we had the opportunity to bring Zack’s vision to the world.

Army of the Dead follows a group of mercenaries, who, after a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, venture into the quarantine zone to attempt the greatest heist ever .

It’s liberating to have the freedom to take big swings with filmmakers you believe in, and together with the film’s incredible team, we think we’ve made something pretty epic. To celebrate the film’s Netflix debut, we wanted to share (no spoilers) why we went all in on this truly one-of-a-kind film.

A Zombie World Like You’ve Never Seen Before

Zombie-Action-Heist-Thriller-Horror-Comedy. What I love about Army of the Dead is that it’s all of my favorite types of movies mashed into one. And whatever genre you’re into, you can likely find a taste of that here.

Usually, when you hear “zombie movie” you may think pale, moody, lifeless. This couldn’t be further from Zack Snyder’s zombie world, which pairs grit with levity and color set against a kitschy Las Vegas backdrop.

We also knew we wanted to bring in talent from around the world. It was important to us that audiences in Germany, France, Mexico, Japan and India could also see themselves in a summer tentpole. Too often this business is dependent on one big name to greenlight a movie. Here we had a diverse ensemble of international stars including Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana De La Reguera, Theo Rossi, Matthias Schweighöfer, Nora Arnezeder, Hiroyuki Sanada, Garret Dillahunt, Tig Notaro, Raúl Castillo, Huma S. Qureshi, Samantha Win, Richard Cetrone and Michael Cassidy.

Big Bets & Opportunity

When I first joined Netflix, there were a couple of phrases I consistently heard: ‘Creative Excellence’ and ‘Freedom & Responsibility’. These may sound like corporate buzz words rarely put into practice. On Army of the Dead, we brought these concepts into every frame of the project.

For me, it meant empowering Zack to take the kind of big swings he is known for. For the company, it meant doing something unprecedented in traditional “Hollywood” – saying yes to a German local language prequel for Matthias Schweighöfer’s character and an anime spinoff before ever seeing a cut of the film. Conventional wisdom says: make one and see how it does. Here, there was so much enthusiasm around the possibilities, we just kept going. Just as the film’s multi-hyphenated genre makes it accessible for lots of different people and tastes, so does the future of the Army-verse.

Snyder Through and Through

Every aspect of this movie is guided by Zack’s aesthetic and creative vision, something I find rare and special. Not only did Zack co-write, produce and direct the film, he was also the director of photography. He was rarely on set without his custom RED camera in his hands, surrounded by his trusted team all working together to make this film as thrilling as possible. Working with Zack on such a unique project where he pushes the envelope is a career highlight.

And as Zack said himself, there is no other cut – this is his cut, and we could not be more excited!

Army of the Dead is now streaming on Netflix.