Dawn of the Dead (2004): 10 Things You Didn’t Know

Image from Universal

1. A Dawn of the Dead sequel was planned… then scrapped.

As mentioned earlier, Dawn of the Dead was a success at the box office, much to the pleasant surprise of the suits at Universal. Anytime those old, rich guys smell the scent of money, they basically float in the air to follow it ala Pepe le Pew. So that’s why they gave the green light to produce Dawn of the Dead 2 after how well the first film had done.

Titled Army of the Dead, the direct sequel would not have been directed by Zack Snyder (who was busy with Watchmen at the time), although he would have still produced and co-written the film. Matthijs van Heijningen, Jr., who went on to helm the 2011 prequel to The Thing, was attached to direct the picture.

The proposed plot would have set the film in Las Vegas, when the city of sin is placed under quarantine following a zombie outbreak which levels the place. In the midst of the chaos, a father searches for his daughter, in a story that is starting to sound a bit too much like Dead Rising 2.

Ultimately, the planned film was permanently placed on the shelf when budgetary issues stalled the project. Apparently, Zack Snyder was developing a taste for costly films, which would eventually become commonplace for him.

Next: 'Demon Knight': 10 Things You Didn't Know

At first, I was sad about there not being a followup to Dawn of the Dead, until Heijninjgen revealed a horrifying detail about the script. It would literally have featured zombie rapists— as in zombies RAPING people. As soon as I saw that, I couldn’t have been more thankful for Universal putting a bullet through this idea’s head.