Director Zack Snyder's balls-to-the-wall zombie heist movie is gearing up to explode onto Netflix next week, and now, more details have been revealed about the upcoming prequel, Army of Thieves. Directed by one of the stars of Army of the Dead, Matthias Schweighöfer, Army of Thieves will offer some insight into the early days of the zombie outbreak, with the new logline revealing that it will involve, wait for it, another heist!

"A mysterious woman recruits bank teller Dieter to assist in a heist of impossible-to-crack safes across Europe."

Matthias Schweighöfer will be directing the project from a screenplay by Shay Hatten and a story by Zack Snyder and Hatten, with Zack Snyder and Deborah Snyder also on board as producers. Along with directing duties, Schweighöfer will reprise his Army of the Dead role as Ludwig Dieter, and will be joined by Game of Thrones and Fast and Furious star Nathalie Emmanuel as Gwendoline. The rest of the cast includes Guz Khan, Ruby O. Fee, Stuart Martin, Jonathan Cohen, Noemie Nakai, Peter Simonischek, and John Bubniak. Filming on Army of Thieves began in Germany in October 2020, finishing that December.

Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead meanwhile follows a group of mercenaries who plot a heist on a Las Vegas casino during a zombie outbreak. Led by Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista as Scott Ward, a mercenary and founder of the mercenary group, Las Vengeance, the movie features an ensemble cast that includes Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, Theo Rossi, Matthias Schweighöfer, Nora Arnezeder, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tig Notaro, Raúl Castillo, Huma Qureshi, and Garret Dillahunt.

The movie is scheduled to be released in select theaters in the United States on May 14, 2021, before streaming digitally on Netflix on May 21, and has so far been met with a warm critical reception. Army of the Dead currently sits at 77% on Rotten Tomatoes, with many praising Bautista's performance, as well as the efforts of the ensemble cast.

The plan is for Army of the Dead to spawn a post-apocalyptic, zombie infested franchise, and Army of Thieves is far from the only Army of the Dead-based project in the works at Netflix, with an upcoming anime-style spin-off titled Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas also currently in development. Developed by Jay Oliva and produced by Meduzarts Animation, the series will reunite several characters and cast members from the first movie, including Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana de la Reguera, Tig Notaro and Omari Hardwick who will all reprise their respective roles for Lost Vegas from Army of the Dead.

The series will revolve around the early phases of the zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, and center once again on Dave Bautista as Scott Ward, detailing his origins as well as his and his comrades' rescue efforts to save mankind. Unlike Army of the Dead however, Joe Manganiello's character, Rose, will serve as the story's main protagonist. Alongside Manganiello, Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas will also add Christian Slater, Harry Lennix, Ross Butler, Anya Chalotra, Vanessa Hudgens, Jena Malone, Nolan North, and Ray Porter to the roster. This comes to us from Netflix.