The Army of the Dead trailer is coming fast! Press and fans were invited to be the first to take a look at it, and to ask questions afterwards to the director, Zack Snyder . The zombie heist film will be released on streaming platform Netflix on 21 May. And Snyder has nothing but praise for that collaboration. “This is the Director’s Cut,” he smiles relaxed. To keep the tension high for the release of the trailer, FilmTotaal will keep this first report spoiler.
These are good days for director Snyder. A month ago saw his personal version of the previously challenged and flopped Justice League, a project from which he left the daylight after the tragic suicide of his daughter. And now the promotional campaign for his latest film Army of the Dead begins . Dave Batista gathers a group of trigger-happy rascals to rob a casino in the middle of a Las Vegas overrun by zombies. And before Snyder himself appears on the screen, there are also some fat pumping beats from the film music, composed by the Dutchman Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL). Apparently, the filmmaker was very satisfied with the two previous collaborations.
“The zombie outbreak started in Las Vegas, which has since been cordoned off with a huge wall of shipping containers,” Snyder describes the world in which this story takes place. “And what we also know is that there has been a war in this city, and animals can get infected too. Not birds, of course, otherwise it wouldn’t work that there are only zombies in a cordoned off Las Vegas.” Which animals do? Perhaps we should not reveal that, except perhaps that there is one in the trailer that fits very much with the atmosphere of Las Vegas.
“Zack has no patience”
The outdoor scenes were filmed in New Mexico, and for the interiors of a run-down casino, Snyder couldn’t go to Vegas either.“We filmed in a completely deserted casino in Atlantic City,” said the director. He explains, “The digital effects team made the desert look like a devastated Vegas in the end. What I loved the most was deconstructing the zombie genre. who is good and bad. And that is really a lot of fun to make! ” He teases, “We’ve reinvented , no, evolved the zombie before for this movie.”
One of the questions he is asked is, now that regular cameraman James Fong is not participating, what it is like to have to work as cameraman Zack Snyder for director Zack Snyder. His grin returns immediately:“He doesn’t understand that some things take time! But we talked about it for a while, and in the end Zack got my side of the story, haha.” The film is also not completely free of James Fong, says Snyder. “We’ve hidden an Easter Egg in the movie that refers to him. So it’s extra fun to keep your eyes peeled for that.”
Not having to fight
Obviously, everyone is especially curious about Snyder’s collaboration with Netflix. Books can be written about the laborious production of Justice League , so Zack could now enjoy working without interference from the studio? “My experience has been astonishingly good,” he says.“I just felt supported and helped. This was the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had as a filmmaker!” And to emphasize how satisfied he is: “This is the movie. There are no other versions. And I didn’t have to fight to get my vision on the screen. This is the Directors Cut, there is no bastardized version of it. Army of the Dead. Big fat point. “
