Planet Of The Dead - What We Know So Far
After briefly stepping away from movies in the wake of personal tragedy, cinematic stylist Zack Snyder returned to the fray with a resounding bang in 2021. Not only did Warner Bros. brass give Snyder the go ahead to revisit the DC realm via the re-cut (and fully reworked) HBO Max release, "Zack Snyder's Justice League," but Netflix bosses ponied up some serious coin for the director's latest original production.
That film was the action-packed zombie heist flick "Army of the Dead," which made its Netflix debut in May of 2021, quickly becoming one of the streamer's most viewed original films (per No Film School). If you've yet to check out "Army of the Dead," it stars Dave Bautista as Scott Ward, a former military specialist who leads a crack team of mercenaries into a zombie-infested Las Vegas to recover $200 million from a casino safe before the whole city is nuked. As you might expect, things do not go according to plan.
Snyder did leave the door open for a potential follow-up, however. And Netflix has already given the green light to the "Army of the Dead" sequel. As Snyder confirmed in a recent Inverse interview, said sequel will be titled "Planet of the Dead." Here's everything we know about it so far.
When will Planet of the Dead be released?
For the record, "Planet of the Dead" is far from the only "Army of the Dead" adjacent project Snyder has in the works. In fact, he and his "Army of the Dead" star Matthias Schweighöfer already have a zombieless prequel project "Army of Thieves" ready for Netflix-land, and the animated prequel series "Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas" in the works. So it's clear Snyder has lots of stories he wants to tell in this burgeoning cinematic universe. While Snyder will presumably be helming the next film in the series, given that Matthias Schweighöfer actually directed "Army of Thieves," that may not be a given.
If Snyder is looking to claim the director's chair on "Planet of the Dead," that means the film is further from release than we might hope. Snyder has, after all, been busy booking new gigs since the original film's release, and has already lined up the sci-fi epic "Rebel Moon" with Netflix. That film hasn't even started shooting yet, which means we're likely at least a couple of years away from seeing a finished "Planet of the Dead" flick. As such, neither Snyder nor Netflix have announced an official release date for "Planet of the Dead" just yet. We will, of course, update you the moment they do.
Who will star in Planet of the Dead?
If you've seen "Army of the Dead," you know what we meant when we said things did not go according to plan for Ward and his crew. Frankly, they couldn't have gone worse, with most meeting a grisly end at the teeth of the undead hordes. That being the case, most of the "Army of the Dead" cast will not be around for the follow-up. There are, however, a couple of O.G. cast members who may yet turn up in "Planet of the Dead."
As for the likely returns, Scott's estranged daughter Kate (Ella Purnell) made it out of Vegas alive. Though there's no telling where she headed or what her plans are once those rescue choppers pick her up, it's a safe bet she'll play some part in the coming sequel. Ditto for Omari Hardwick's buzzsaw-wielding Vanderohe, who not only survived the fracas, but got himself aboard a plane to Mexico with loot in hand. Unfortunately, he did so with a zombie bite on his person, so things are looking grim for him. That leaves just Schweighöfer's safe-cracking Ludwig Dieter, who found himself ironically trapped inside of a safe at film's end. While his fate remains a mystery, Snyder refused to confirm his death in the Inverse interview, so he'll almost certainly be back. Still, no official casting news has broken for "Planet of the Dead," so we'll be sure to keep you posted as the news comes.
What is Planet of the Dead about?
Per that same Inverse interview, Snyder and his creative team seem to have a pretty clear plan in place for "Planet of the Dead." But it's still in the early stages of production, so we don't have much verified info regarding the plot of the film. We can obviously take a very big cue from the title of the sequel though, with "Planet of the Dead" clearly alluding to the fact that the zombie plague was not contained in Vegas, and is about to go global.
As noted, Vanderohe was indeed zombie-bitten and en route to Mexico City at the end of "Army of the Dead," so there's every indication he'll be the new Alpha zombie in the sequel. Likewise, it's a safe bet the global outbreak will begin the moment his plane touches down south of the border. Regarding Kate and Dieter, we'll just have to wait and see what, if anything, Snyder has in store for them. We've also got this alluring tidbit via a recent Snyder interview with GamesRadar+ – apparently, the plot of "Planet of the Dead" is going to involve some sort of time loop, that popular narrative device at the center of films like "Groundhog Day" and "Palm Springs."
"All your time loop fun that you can have, there's a lot of cool enhancements that are baked in now," Snyder said. "I can't wait to make the sequel to Army of the Dead, so that we can see how then all of those things manifest."
As for where "Planet of the Dead" goes from there, that's really anybody's guess. But taking matters global will obviously open a legitimate world of narrative possibilities for Snyder and company, and we really cannot wait to see where they take this thrilling undead adventure next.