Ella Purnell, an actress whose credits include KICK-ASS 2, MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN, and the Starz TV series Sweetbitter (pictured above), has signed on to star in DAWN OF THE DEAD remake director Zack Snyder's new zombie film ARMY OF THE DEAD.
Dave Bautista is playing a "dry-witted, thoughtful" man named Scott in the film, and Purnell will be playing his daughter Kate, a "taciturn, hard-working, driven" volunteer with the World Health Organization.
Written by Snyder and Shay Hatten, ARMY OF THE DEAD is an adventure film that is
set amid a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, during which a man assembles a group of mercenaries to take the ultimate gamble: venturing into the quarantined zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted.
Along with the announcement of Purnell's casting comes the news that three more actors have joined the cast. They are Ana De La Reguera, who has been in NACHO LIBRE, COP OUT, and the From Dusk Till Dawn TV show; Theo Rossi of Luke Cage, Sons of Anarchy, and CLOVERFIELD; and Huma Qureshi of the Bollywood remake of OCULUS, which was called DOBAARA: SEE YOUR EVIL. The names of the characters they will be playing were not revealed.
ARMY OF THE DEAD is a Netflix project that Snyder is producing with Deborah Snyder and Wesley Coller. Ori Marmur and Andrew Norman are overseeing the production for Netflix.
Filming is expected to begin in July.
I'm not usually a fan of Snyder's work, but I look forward to seeing how this one is going to turn out.