Zack Snyder has been a busy man since leaving the Justice League project. At some point in the next year, we’ll be getting his cut of Justice League on HBO Max and we’ll get a sneak peek of it this month during Warner Bros.’ DC FanDome virtual event.
He’s also been working on Netflix zombie horror flick, Army of the Dead, and today brings news of a casting change. THR broke the news that the project will be swapping one comedian for another with actress Tig Notaro replacing the embattled Chris D’Elia for reshoots. The recast comes in the wake of multiple accusations levied at D’Elia of him sexually harassing underage girls.
The movie, which Snyder co-wrote with Shay Hatten and Joby Harold, is set in Las Vegas and follows the events that happen after a zombie outbreak. It centers on a group of mercenaries who take advantage of the chaos in order to pull off the unthinkable: Traveling into the zombie-plagued quarantine zone in order to pull of a major heist. It’s assembled a major international cast led by Dave Bautista, and also includes Ella Purnell, Ana De La Reguera, Theo Rossi, Huma Qureshi, Omari Hardwick, Hiroyuki Sanada, Garret Dillahunt, Matthias Schweighöfer, Raúl Castillo, Nora Arnezeder, and Samantha Win.
Interestingly, Army of the Dead has already wrapped principal photography. Notaro, who was most recently seen on Star Trek: Discovery, will be joining the project with reshoots. The film was already into postproduction when the pandemic hit. Snyder worked closely with various post-production companies to keep work on the project going throughout the Hollywood shutdown. The accusations against D’Elia, however, prompted the casting of Notaro and a round of reshoots in order to incorporate her role.
With the pandemic shutdown being ongoing, bringing Notaro into the already-wrapped project will necessitate using a few tricks to get around the fact the cast is now scattered around and shooting restrictions still largely in place. Instead, her scenes will be shot using a combination of shooting footage opposite an acting partner for some scenes and using green screen and CGI to blend her into other previously shot scenes. It’s unclear if Notaro’s character is a straight swap for D’Elia’s and she’ll be replacing him directly, or if the role was modified and rewritten for her.
Snyder has to be commended for taking the D’Elia accusations seriously and taking considerable action. Replacing D’Elia with Notaro is a brilliant bit of recasting and definitely an upgrade from an acting perspective. Definitely looking forward to see how her reshoots play out in the finished cut.
