Zack Snyder's "Army of the Dead 2" has begun And even a new title: the spiritual successor to 2004's "Dawn of the Dead," "Army of the Dead" follows a group of mercenaries who take on the task of recovering millions of dollars from a Las Vegas casino

The only obstacle in their path is that the city is quarantined, full of zombies, and slated to be obliterated in a nuclear attack

"Army of the Dead" is at 68% on Rotten Tomatoes, but the audience score is better at 75% if Netflix gives the OK to a sequel, viewer reception is everything--see "Jupiter's Legacy," which was canceled instead of producing a second season You can see that

Snyder's zombie heist is shaping up to be a Netflix top 10 blockbuster, according to the streaming service (via Deadline), with 72 million households watching in its first four weeks of release

"Army of the Dead 2" was confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter Warning: spoilers for "Army of the Dead"

"Army of the Dead" was released on Netflix on May 21, following the film's debut on May 14; production on the first film is hardly on track, and many are looking at a 2024 release

Meanwhile, "Army of the Dead" will receive a prequel called "Army of Thieves" on Netflix The synopsis has already been posted on the website and reads as follows: in this prequel to "Army of the Dead," a mysterious woman hires Dieter, a banker, to help her rob uncrackable vaults across Europe

Nearly the entire cast was killed at the end of the first film, including Ludwig Dieter, played by Matthias Schweighäfer The prequel focuses on the early stages of the zombie outbreak and features Nathalie Emmanuel ("Game of Thrones"), Ruby O Fee ("Asphalt Burning"), Stuart Martin ("Jamestown"), Guz Khan ("Four Weddings and a Funeral" ), Jonathan Cohen ("Budapest"), and Noemie Nakai ("Death Note: New Generation")

Another prequel, Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas, is an animated series in which actors from the film reprise their roles Fans can expect to learn more about Scott Ward, played by Dave Bautista, and the beginnings of Outbreak A total of six episodes are planned, with Snyder directing two of them

"Army of the Dead 2" will be titled "Planet of the Dead," Snyder confirmed in an interview

Those who have already seen "Army of the Dead" and heeded the spoiler warnings will know that everyone on the heist crew is dead, with the exception of Omari Hardwick's Vanderhohe and Ella Purnell's Kate Ward

When we last saw Vanderohe, he had escaped Las Vegas with a large sum of money and was on a flight to New Mexico There was a wrinkle in that plan According to Snyder, he turned out to have been bitten, which is the basis for the plot of the sequel

Speaking to Polygon about Army of the Dead 2, Snyder said, "I want to make it right away What we are planning is too crazy Once I found out that Vanderlohe was bitten and that he was going to Mexico City, I thought, 'You know what's going to happen And I couldn't stop crying And by the time it was over, [co-writer Shay Hatten] was like, 'OK'"

Snyder also points out several Easter eggs, including robot zombies and the address of the shipping container from which the alpha zombie Zeus escapes at the beginning of the film Zeus is transported to Iran, and Snyder asks, "Is he some sort of secret biological weapon?" he asks That's a question only Zach can answer

Asked about the time loop theory, Snyder said, "I don't know Is Tanaka (the source of funding for the heist) the devil or God?"

If a sequel to Army of the Dead were to be made, there would be quite a few different threads, and Snyder seems to be aware of most of them So all that's left is for Netflix to give the go-ahead