‘Army of the Dead’: Netflix announces prequel film, anime series

Sept. 3 (UPI) — Vegas is about to run out of luck. Brace yourself for Army of the Dead: Vegas, a prequel anime series based on the upcoming Zach Snyder film pic.twitter.com/UgsnI8GFv7— NX (@NXOnNetflix) September 3, 2020

Netflix announced on Thursday a prequel film and anime series to supplement director Zack Snyder’s upcoming Army of the Dead film.

The prequel film will be directed by and star Matthias Schweighöfer and follow his Army of the Dead character Ludwig Dieter.

The project will be produced out of Germany with a screenplay by Army of the Dead writer Shay Hatten, who is also penning the anime series.

“It has already been a great pleasure to be part of this wonderful ensemble around Zack Snyder – a fascinating project. I am happy that it is now being developed on so many different levels,” Schweighöfer said in a statement.

The anime series titled Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas, will present the origin story of Dave Bautista’s character Scott and his rescue crew as they confront the source of the zombie outbreak.

Snyder will direct two episodes of the anime series with Jay Oliva (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns) serving as showrunner and also directing two episodes. Bautista, Ana de la Reguera, Tig Notaro, Omari Hardwick and Ella Purnell will be reprising their roles from Snyder’s film in the anime series.

Snyder’s Army of the Dead will be released in 2021 and follows a group of mercenaries as they travel into a zombie infested Las Vegas to pull off a heist.

Bautista, Purnell, Reguera, Theo Rossi, Huma Qureshi, Hardwick, Notaro, Hiroyuki Sanada, Garret Dillahunt, Schweighöfer, Raúl Castillo, Nora Arnezeder and Samantha Win star.

“I’m incredibly excited for the opportunity to partner with Netflix again as we expand the Army of the Dead universe with both an international prequel, as well as exploring the visually dynamic world of animation. It’s been a great collaboration and we are thrilled that Netflix sees this as big of an IP as we do,” Snyder said in a statement.