Army of the Dead 2 Title Revealed: Planet of the Dead
Zack Snyder reveals the title to his in-development Army of the Dead 2 to be Planet of the Dead and teases one character's return for the sequel. The former DC Extended Universe filmmaker spent nearly 15 years attempting to get the first Army of the Dead off the ground, having conceived the idea as a spiritual sequel to his directorial debut Dawn of the Dead, a remake of George A. Romero's zombie classic. Netflix would eventually acquire the rights to the project in 2019 and handed Snyder an estimated $90 million budget to direct the film on a script he co-wrote with Shay Hatten and Joby Harold.
Army of the Dead revolved around a group of mercenaries hired by a casino owner to infiltrate a zombie-infested Las Vegas to recover $200 million from his vault before the Nevada city is wiped out with a nuclear strike by the government. The film was comprised of an ensemble cast that included Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, Theo Rossi, Matthias Schweighöfer, Nora Arnezeder, Tig Notaro, Raúl Castillo, Huma Qureshi, Garret Dillahunt and Hiroyuki Sanada. Army of the Dead debuted to mixed-to-positive reviews from critics and became a smash hit for the streaming platform, cementing plans for future installments, one of which has found new details revealed.
In anticipation of the release of the next installment in his new franchise, Snyder spoke with Inverse about the in-development Army of the Dead 2. While teasing the potential return of Army of Thieves lead Dieter, the co-writer/director elected to keep mum on more details for the sequel, which he reveled to be named Planet of the Dead. See what Snyder said below:
"But the real adventure would be to see what happened to him when that safe door closed. Did he get killed by Zeus or not? What happened? We don't see him die on camera, and there's still some time left. I won't tell you what happens in Army of the Dead 2 — aka Planet of the Dead — but let's just say that there’s a chance Dieter survives. And there's a chance that brush with death would have caused him to want to find a jailed Gwendoline."
The tease of Dieter's survival at the end of Army of the Dead is a point many audiences have been debating since the film's debut, namely with the announcement of a prequel film focused wholly on Schweighöfer's character in Army of Thieves. Snyder's announcement that the sequel will be titled Planet of the Dead is not only an interesting shift away from the Army moniker currently attached to the three finished products, but also a hint of what to be expected from the sequel. Unlike other films in the genre, Snyder's undead have some connection to aliens, with the original zombie having come from Area 51 and a UFO able to be seen briefly in an opening shot.
While it seems unlikely that Planet of the Dead will become a full-on alien invasion film, the potential to explore this element further is sure to pique audiences' interests further. The title could also very well allude to the zombie virus going global as Omari Hardwick's Vanderohe was seen having survived the events of the film and flying to Mexico City only to discover an undead bite. Snyder's busy schedule with Rebel Moon may not see the Army of the Dead sequel arrive any time soon, but in the meantime fans can look forward to the arrival of Army of Thieves on Netflix this Friday.
Source: Inverse