Dave Bautista Explains His Casting in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead

In 2004, Zack Snyder made his feature film directorial debut with Dawn of the Dead, a remake of George Romero’s 1978 film. Rather than serving as a commentary on capitalism, the film leaned into high-octane horrors of fast-moving zombies, proving to be a relative success with audiences. The director then went on to helm a number of comic book films, with his upcoming project, Army of the Dead, returning him to the zombie genre. Snyder enlisted another comic book heavyweight with Dave Bautista, known for Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy. The actor recently opened up about what drew him to the project.

“I’ve been talking to Zack Snyder for years now; we’ve been trying to do a project together,” Bautista shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “I met Zack years ago and always loved him. I had an instant connection with this guy. He’s my type of director. He’s kind of a man’s man; he likes to train a lot and is all tatted up. We just kind of understand each other.”

The upcoming project has fans excited for a number of reasons. Snyder left his last project, Justice League, before filming had been finished, leaving audiences to speculate how the final film differed from his original vision. Additionally, the new film marks his first return to the horror world after 15 years away from the genre that offered him his big break. The new film is going to land on Netflix, a platform known for enabling creators to deliver their ambitious and uncompromising visions.

The actor went on to detail the process of securing the role in the new film.

“We’d been talking about this other project, which is a really great acting role for me,” Bautista continued. “It’s a passion project for him, but for one reason or another, we just couldn’t get it going. When he got a hold of Army of the Dead, he actually wrote a smaller part for me in there. As he was gearing up for casting, he started thinking about who his lead would be, and he told me this personally, ‘One day, it just clicked: God, Dave is not that part; Dave is my lead.’ So, he called me and asked me if I would do it; I said, ‘Hell yeah. I’d be happy to do it.’ I really just want to work with Zack.”

Stay tuned for details on Army of the Dead.

Do Bautista’s remarks have you excited for the new project? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!