Years before Zack Snyder entered the superhero world, the director gained cult status of sorts with his horror flick, Dawn Of the Dead. The film, which was a remake of the 1978 George Romero classic, worked with audiences and critics thanks to not only Snyder’s unique style of filmmaking but also the entertaining writing of James Gunn.
A skilled filmmaker himself, Gunn is also known for his affinity to incorporate diverse music by off-beat pop bands of the 80s and 90s, into his films. Expectedly, Snyder was keen to pick the DC head’s brain about the kind of songs that would enhance the movie. The Man of Steel director though, had to fight tooth and nail with Universal Pictures to use a particular version of a song that the production house felt, was not suited to the film.
Zack Snyder’s Battle With Universal Pictures In Dawn Of The Dead
In 2004’s Dawn of the Dead directed by Zack Snyder, survivors of an epidemic that causes the infected to turn into flesh-eating zombies take refuge in a shopping mall while tackling internal problems as well. This remake of George Romero’s 1978 film, was very well received by audiences, thanks also to James Gunn’s script. The road to completing the movie though, was paved with a few challenges for Snyder.
The Justice League director also echoed James Gunn’s penchant for incorporating interesting music into his films and chose a popular song from the band Disturbed, which was performed by singer Richard Cleese. This decision though, was not approved by Universal Pictures as they felt that Cleese’s loungey version did not stand up against the original. Snyder, who felt that this version worked as a perfect foil for the situation in the film, recalled to Total Magazine (via Slash Film) how he fought to reach a compromise.
“[I]n the middle of the movie […] we use the Richard Cheese version of ‘Down with the Sickness.’ The studio really wanted me to use the Disturbed version. They couldn’t understand. I had a take on the music for Dawn of the Dead. Immediately, when I got the script, I was thinking about all these different songs. I thought that it was cool as a way to end the movie because it’s so dark. It’s a bleak ending, in a cool way.”
Snyder revealed that he was adamant about wanting this song for that particular scene, and fought for it to be included, as he felt it lent a sense of quirkiness to the film that could set it apart from the original.
Why Zack Snyder Did Not Make Dawn Of The Dead 2
While a lot of people believed that Zack Snyder’s 2021 film Army of the Dead was the long-awaited sequel to his 2004 film Dawn of the Dead, the director himself confirmed that this was not the case. The film which was labelled a zombie heist, follows a group of mercenaries who come together to break into the zombie-infested quarantine zone to retrieve millions of dollars in a vault.
This film which Snyder called ‘ the spiritual successor’ and not the sequel to Dawn of the Dead, did not impress audiences and critics like his 2004 flick. While the director did not give any concrete reason behind not following up on a sequel, the most likely cause is speculated to be his incredibly busy schedule from 2006 onwards, during which he worked on 300, Watchmen, and followed that up with his entry into DC and the DCEU.
