Horror film remake is nothing new and, if any studio believed there was some money to be made, something like that was bound to happen. In the early 2000s, several well-known remakes ended up making big bucks, with 2003’s “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” as one such example. So Universal followed the trend and looked for a way to bring the team together to bring 1978’s “Dawn of the Dead” to modern audiences.
Both sides of the coin were on the rise at the time. Gunn emerged through Lloyd Kaufman’s Troma, writing low-budget films like “Tromeo and Juliet,” before breaking through with 2002’s “Scooby-Doo.” That made him appealing to the studio and, because Hollywood likes to put people in the box, it’s all about IP. for Gunn at this stage in his career. Meanwhile, Snyder has been waiting for the opportunity to direct his first feature.
Snyder has made great music videos for big artists like Soul Asylum, ZZ Top, and Morissey, doing a pretty good job of getting on Hollywood’s radar for a variety of projects. But, in the end, this remake of Romero’s seminal zombie film will be the director’s chair he will take up for his feature directorial debut.