Cinema regularly pushes boundaries, challenging our perceptions. Zack Snyder is one such filmmaker who, with his distinctive style and bold storytelling, is not afraid to venture into controversial subjects. The Stone Quarry founder recently revealed that he had a line that Netflix would not allow him to cross, making him cut a scene from his 2021 zombie heist film, Army of the Dead.
When it comes to creative liberties, filmmakers often face constraints and compromises. Unexpectedly, we recently learned from Collider that the Dawn of the Dead director was asked by Netflix to take the Zombie p*nis out of his director’s cut. Hold on, what? Even Netflix’s daring audience seemed to find Zombie’s intimate body parts too much to bear.
Zack Snyder Discussed The Only Scene He Had to Omit in Army Of The Dead
Zack Snyder‘s Army of the Dead imagines a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas overrun by flesh-hungry zombies. The film has received widespread acclaim for its spine-chilling action and scenes, and the director’s vivid imagination brings the undead to life like never before. But as it turned out, the first cut of the film contained something even more shocking that Netflix could not bear to show their audience.
In an interview with Collider, Snyder, 57, gave his reasoning for not thinking that Army of the Dead needs a director’s cut. According to him, Netflix was “so cool with what [he] wanted to do”, so the zombie movie did not require a director’s cut.
However, the only thing Snyder claimed he was asked to “take out was the zombie p*nis” while filming the 148-minute movie. To quote the filmmaker:
“But the cool thing was with Netflix, and I had this experience on Army [of the Dead], was that they were so cool with what I wanted to do..They never said, ‘Oh…’ I think the only thing they wanted me to take out was the zombie p*nis because we had it in the opening credits. One of the Chippendale’s dancers had this huge c*ck with a bite taken out of it. I had a shot of it, and they were like, ‘Look, is there any way…?’ And I was like, ‘Alright’.”
Given Snyder’s history of doing ‘director cuts’ for many of his films, this update on Army of the Dead has caught us off guard. Most famously, Zack Snyder’s Justice League was given this treatment, and intense fan campaigns were made to pressure Warner Bros. to release Snyder’s version.
Zack Snyder Has an Update on Army of the Dead Sequel?
Army of the Dead, a Netflix film directed by Zack Snyder and starring Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, and Omari Hardwick, among others, was released in 2021. But what about a sequel? Earlier this year, the Rebel Moon director gave an update on Planet of the Dead, which is set to be his official follow-up to Army of the Dead. He informed The Nerd Queens:
“As far as the Army Universe goes, it is still alive and well in my mind. I know exactly what I would do. It really depends on how we try to figure out how we go forward with Rebel Moon and the Rebel Moon Universe. It’s not a small-time commitment..”
What is to be expected from Planet of the Dead? Snyder revealed to Inverse that Ludwig Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer-portrayed cunning character in Army of the Dead) might return to Planet of the Dead. The filmmaker teased:
“The real adventure would be to see what happened to [Dieter] 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..”
One can truly speculate as to where Planet of the Dead will go from there. Critics praised Army of the Dead for its wit while criticizing its plot and length. Also, it was named ‘Oscars Fan Favorite’ at the 94th Academy Awards and grossed $1 million at the box office.
Stream Army of the Dead on Netflix.
