Dawn of the Dead
Short description
Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 horror film in which a mysterious epidemic turns much of the population into flesh-eating zombies. A small group of survivors, including nurse Ana and police officer Kenneth, barricade themselves inside a large shopping mall, which offers shelter and supplies but proves difficult to hold. Tensions among the survivors, threats from outside and the sheer number of the dead force the group to consider a risky escape.
Zack Snyder directed the film, the first of the fifteen features he has directed to date and the one that precedes 300 (2007). The screenplay is credited to James Gunn and George A. Romero, whose 1978 film of the same name provides the starting point. The cast includes Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Michael Kelly, Mekhi Phifer and Inna Korobkina.
Made for a budget of 26 million US dollars for Universal Pictures with partners in Canada, the United States, France and Japan, the film went on to gross around 102 million US dollars worldwide, a strong return on its cost. Audience response was solid rather than unanimous, with an IMDb rating of 7.2 from about 287,000 votes and a TMDB rating of 7.1 from roughly 4,700 votes. A critics' rating of 7 out of 10 from 193 reviews places it close to those audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The vast majority of the zombie makeup was modeled after real forensic photographs.
- The Subaru WRX commercial, visible on the television screen shortly before the "special report" text appears, was also directed by Zack Snyder.
- Kyle Cooper used real human blood to create the opening and closing credits.
- One of the invoices at Andy's gun store was issued to Nicholas Gazdy, who was the first assistant director on the project.
- Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, and Tom Savini also appeared in the original 1978 film. However, in the remake, they played different roles.
- Ann's bedroom set was built in the same building that housed the mall.
- Zack Snyder personally selected most of the musical pieces featured in the film.
- The first scene in the garage ends with Michael dousing a zombie in gasoline and CJ igniting the fuel with a lighter. This is a reference to a similar scene in "Night of the Living Dead" (1968).
- Sarah Polley was the producers' initial choice for the role of Ann.
- The overweight female zombie was played by a man.
- In the film's commercial, Andre was checking if the back doors of the shopping mall were locked, while several zombies pounded on the glass doors, trying to break in. In the film, this scene was replaced with a similar one where only one zombie approached the glass doors. The original scene can be found on the DVD, along with the director's commentary explaining why this episode was changed.
- According to a 'lost video tape' containing Andy's personal video diaries, the owner of the gun store (this video can be found on the DVD), the main characters arrived at the mall on May 9th. Therefore, the events in the film begin one day earlier – May 8th, 2004. Andy's last video entry is dated June 6th, 2004. The story told in the film also ends on this day, with the exception of the footage during the end credits. Thus, the film covers a time span of 29 days.
- The film was shot in chronological order.
- The music playing in the shopping mall as the characters enter is a variation of Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry Be Happy".
- One of the stores in the mall is called “Gaylen Ross.” Gaylen Ross played Fran in “Dawn of the Dead” (1978).
- B.P. Trucking loaned several trucks for the film's shooting. The same company provided trucks for the original 1978 film.
- The footage we see in the end credits was specifically reshot after principal photography was completed.
- The film premiered at the Beverly Centre Mall, located in Los Angeles.
- The film does not explain why the dead have returned to life. However, the DVD cover states that a virus is to blame for everything.
- “Dawn of the Dead” was the first film to have its first ten minutes, in an unedited version, aired on television five days before its theatrical release.
- At the earliest stages of script development, producers planned to cast Diane Lane as Ann.
- According to Zack Snyder, Scott Frank and Michael Tolkin “polished” the screenplay.
- The film's ending is intercut with the end credits.
- A professional nurse was brought in to film the close-ups in the scene where Ann stitches Kenneth's wounds. However, she misunderstood the director's instructions and actually sewed a special prosthetic onto Wing Reimz's skin.
- According to Zack Snyder, when we see the van crashing into the gas station, the helicopter shot was borrowed from the original film and added to this movie using computer special effects.
- The scene between Ann (Sarah Polley), Andre (Makay Fife), Norma (Jane Eastwood), and Monica (Kim Poirier) in Hallowed Grounds Café was specifically rewritten to give Kim more screen time. However, her name is never mentioned throughout the entire film, and almost all scenes with her dialogue were cut during final editing.
- The character Wing Reimz's name, Kenneth, is a tribute to Ken Foree, who played a similar role in "Dawn of the Dead" (1978).
- While the film's characters are stocking up on ammunition in the gun store, music from the original 1978 film can be heard in the background.
- "Dawn of the Dead" is Zack Snyder's directorial debut.
- The scene where Ann drives along the highway, and we see a van crashing into a gas station from a bird's-eye view, is a reference to “Night of the Living Dead” (1968), where Ben says he was listening to the radio at the very moment a van crashed into a gas station.
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