Dawn Of The Dead 2 - Will It Ever Happen?
The 1978 George Romero masterpiece that is "Dawn of the Dead" could never be replaced. However, it was certainly given new life in the form of Zack Snyder's 2004 remake of the same name. The reimagining of the classic film came out at a time when zombies had been out of the horror mainstream for a while, and it brought them back to life in true zombie fashion.
At the time of its release, the "Dawn of the Dead" remake received positive feedback from critics and still holds up today with a 76% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie follows a group of survivors who take shelter in an empty shopping mall amidst the chaos the undead have unleashed on the world. As the group slowly dwindles, they have a decision to make — leave the shopping mall and face the unknown, or remain in the shopping mall and face certain death. While, according to Horror Obsessive, the Snyder remake mainly steered clear of the political ideologies that Romero's version is so well-known for, the 2004 version of "Dawn of the Dead" is a masterpiece in its own right.
So with Snyder's 2004 zombie film being such a success, why is it a standalone film? Instead of going on to recreate the entire "...of the Dead" catalog, Snyder stopped at "Dawn of the Dead." Will a direct sequel to the gore-fest ever happen?
A Dawn of the Dead sequel is unlikely but Snyder isn't finished with zombies
Zack Snyder released his 2004 zombie film "Dawn of the Dead," which blew audiences away with his portrayal of the undead dystopian world, and then, instead of releasing a sequel, he stepped away from flesh-eating corpses for a long time. That's not to say the famed director wasn't extremely busy creating more cinematic gold with movies like 2006's "300," 2009's "Watchmen," and 2017's "Justice League" — as well as his eponymous director's cut from 2021 (via IMDb). Truth be told, Snyder is always up to something.
In 2021 Snyder released "Army of the Dead." A zombie-heist movie that took Snyder back to his zombie days with all the glitz and glam of a horrifying Las Vegas bloodbath. Of course, the movie itself is often compared to "Dawn of the Dead," but in an interview with ScreenRant, Snyder assured curious fans that it isn't a sequel. "I developed it right after 'Dawn' but not as a sequel. I wanted to do this other evolution in it of the zombies. So I needed another trope."
With almost two decades having passed since his revisiting of "Dawn of the Dead," and so many additions to the new "Army of the Dead" zombie-verse including, including "Army of Thieves" and the not-yet-released "Planet of the Dead" (via Variety), it seems unlikely that a sequel to the 2004 hit movie will come anytime soon. However, there will still be plenty of Snyder's zombie films to go around.