Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)
Spiritual successor
Spiritual successor
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On March 25, 2007, *[Variety](/wiki/Variety_%28magazine%29 "Variety (magazine)")* announced that [Warner Bros. Pictures](/wiki/Warner_Bros._Pictures "Warner Bros. Pictures") would produce a new zombie film from a screenplay written by [Joby Harold](/wiki/Joby_Harold "Joby Harold"), based on an original idea conceived by Snyder. In a statement, Snyder said that he wanted the film to feel similar to *Dawn of the Dead* and *[300](/wiki/300_%28film%29 "300 (film)")* and that it would center around a father in [Las Vegas](/wiki/Las_Vegas "Las Vegas") "who tries to save his daughter from imminent death in a zombie\-infested world". At the time, Wesley Coller was attached to executive produce, with Snyder and his wife [Deborah Snyder](/wiki/Deborah_Snyder "Deborah Snyder") producing through Cruel \& Unusual Films (now known as [The Stone Quarry](/wiki/The_Stone_Quarry "The Stone Quarry")). Snyder got the idea during *Dawn of the Dead*s production and wanted to explore a new evolution of the zombies. The film is not a sequel to *Dawn of the Dead* but rather a [spiritual successor](/wiki/Spiritual_successor "Spiritual successor"). Snyder realized that he needed a new [origin story](/wiki/Origin_story "Origin story") to develop the plot and create a new incarnation of the living dead. He titled the project *Army of the Dead* as a tribute to [the works](/wiki/Night_of_the_Living_Dead_%28film_series%29 "Night of the Living Dead (film series)") of George A. Romero. After languishing for several years in [development hell](/wiki/Development_hell "Development hell"), the distribution rights to the film were acquired by [Netflix](/wiki/Netflix "Netflix") in 2019, and Snyder began shooting that same year.

*Army of the Dead* had a week\-long limited theatrical release starting May 14 prior to its wider Netflix release on May 21, 2021\.


Why did Snyder get the idea for the film during Dawn of the Dead's production?