Dave Bautista Gave Up The Suicide Squad Role for Army of the Dead

In a recent interview with EW, Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista has confirmed that he originally had a role in James Gunn’s highly-anticipated The Suicide Squad. However, he ultimately decided to exit the project in order to be able to sign on to Zack Snyder’s newest Zombie movie Army of the Dead. He apparently wasn’t interested in the Netflix project at first and declined before Snyder reached out to him. Bautista explained the he immediately changed his mind when he finally had the chance to read the script. In addition, two new Army of the Dead photos have also been released which you can check out below, featuring a new look at the main cast.

“I said I wasn’t interested,” Bautista said. “I had this chip on my shoulder and was looking for juicy [dramatic roles]. Then I read the script and it was a lot deeper and had more layers than I thought. And also, to be quite frank, I wanted to work with Zack.”

RELATED: James Gunn Confirms The Suicide Squad R-Rating

Written by Joby Harold and Shay Hatten from a story by Snyder, Army of the Dead will follow the story of a man who recruits a group of mercenaries to pull off the ultimate heist amidst a zombie apocalypse. It is consists of an ensemble cast, including Dave Bautista (Stuber), Omari Hardwick (Kick-Ass), Tig Notaro (Instant Family), Hiroyuki Sanada (Westworld), Raul Castillo (Vida), Nora Arnezeder (Origin), Matthias Schweighöfer (The Manny), Samantha Win (Wonder Woman), Rich Cetrone (Thor) and Garrett Dillahunt (Fear the Walking Dead).

Snyder has been working on the film since 2007, originally having it in development at Warner Bros. Now, the project is in development at Netflix. Word is the streaming service is sparing no expense with a budget reportedly in the $70 million to $90 million range.

RELATED: Universe’s Most Wanted: Dave Bautista to Star in Sci-Fi Fantasy from Brad Peyton

The Suicide Squad cast includes: John Cena, Jai Courtney, Joaquín Cosío, Joel Kinnaman, Maylin Ng, Flula Borg, Juan Deigo Botto, Storm Reid, Pete Davidson, Taika Waititi, Alice Brage, Tinashe Kajese, Daniela Melchior, Peter Capaldi, Julio Ruiz, Jennifer Holland, Viola Davis, Idris Elba, and Margot Robbie.

The movie is written and directed by Gunn. Charles Roven and Peter Safran will serve as producers. Nik Korda is executive producing the movie.

The Suicide Squad will hit theaters on August 6, 2021.

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