Zack Synder’s forthcoming Army of the Dead prequel Army of Thieves has recently received a new poster. The focus of the poster is actor/director MatthiasSchweigh&öfer. Schweigh&öfer also stars as the lead character in the movie, reprising his Army of the Dead role – namely the locksmith, Ludwig Dieter. The tagline on the poster reads simply, “Before Vegas, one locksmith became a legend.”
The concept for Army of Thieves is not in and of itself a new concept. The premise finds Dieter, six years prior to the events of Army of the Dead in the early years of his safecracking career. Dieter is hired by a mysterious employer for the purpose of pulling off a heist. Of course no heist movie would be complete without a motley crew of accomplices and Army of Thieves is gleefully no exception to the rule.
Alongside Schweigh&öfer’s Dieter is Ruby O. Fee in the role of “master hacker” Korina. Guz Khan (recognizable for his work on comedy show Man Like Mobeen, along with his stand-up appearances on Live at the Apollo) will occupy the role of Rolph, the group’s getaway driver. The muscle of the group is Brad Cage, played by Scottish actor Stuart Martin – best known for his roles in British television, most notably as Detective Inspector William Wellington in Miss Scarlet and The Duke. Nathalie Emmanuel rounds out the gang as Gwendoline.
Netflix released a full length trailer for Army of Thieves just over a week ago. The trailer shows Schweigh&öfer’s character Dieter winning a safecracking contest and impressing Emmanuel’s Gwendoline enough for her to want to hire him for her job – despite Dieter’s protests about not being a criminal. The job entails Dieter cracking three different safes, all belonging to “infamous” billionaire Bly Tanaka – another returning character from Army of the Dead, played again by Hiroyuki Sanada.
Producer Deborah Snyder described Army of Thieves back in May 2021 as a film similar in nature to The Italian Job, only set in a world where zombies also happen to exist:
“[it] takes place in a world where these zombies exist in America and it’s causing instability in the banking institutions. They’re moving money around, so it’s the perfect opportunity for a heist.”
Schweigh&öfer himself has stated that Army of Thieves is not categorically a zombie film. The trailer does at least reference the existence of zombies (in a blink-and-you-miss-it flash of news footage). Zack Snyder has claimed that there will be zombies in the film. Whether this will be purely in the background of have a direct impact on the plot remains to be seen however.
Zack Snyder has also confirmed that a proper sequel to Army of the Dead is in development. Furthermore Netflix plans to release an animated tie-in/prequel in the Spring of 2022 titled: Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas. For the completely uninitiated, there is still plenty of time to get caught up. Army of the Dead is currently available to watch on Netflix, with Army of Thieves set to be released just in time for Halloween – October 29th.