Producer Eric Newman originally conceived plans to remake George A. Romero's 1978 cult horror film Dawn of the Dead.

[4] In search of a screenwriter, Rubinstein hired James Gunn, an avid fan of the original, who began writing a draft.

Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. signed on as director, with a script from Joby Harold, based on an original story by Zack Snyder.

"[7] By January 2019, Netflix acquired the distribution rights to the project from Universal and Warner Bros. with Zack Snyder returning as director.

The filmmaker also serves as co-screenwriter with Shay Hatten, based on the story treatment previously written by Snyder and Joby Harold.

[15] As U.S. military convoy makes its way en route from Area 51 with a transfer of a top secret government-weapon, bioengineered through experimentation with extraterrestrial DNA,[16] it breaks free and quickly destroys everything in its path.

As it attacks the military personnel, it passes on an infection rapidly spreading a disease that overtakes Las Vegas, Nevada.

Some time thereafter, the U.S. government quarantines the surrounding area with plans for a tactical nuclear air strike to wipe the outbreak of walking dead from the Earth before it spreads.

As the scheduled day draws near, a wealthy owner of a casino on the Strip hires a small group of mercenaries to infiltrate the infestation and pull off a dangerous heist and retrieve all the cash stored in the vault, his establishment, before time runs out.

[17] Jointly the team struggles in a race against the clock to retrieve the money, rescue family members who have been taken hostage by the alpha zombies, and fight off the living dead.

The plot would show how Schweighöfer's character, Ludwig Dieter, learned how to crack safes with previous heist teams.

[24] In June 2021 on the first day of the Netflix online event "Geeked Week", Deborah Snyder stated that they were intending the movie be released in the fall.

The filmmaker elaborated that should the project be green-lit, the plot would include the events teased at the end of Army of the Dead with Omari Hardwick's Vanderohe character becoming the new alpha zombie, and the perilous outbreak that follows when he arrives in Mexico.

[32][33][34] In October 2021, Zack Snyder and Matthias Schweighöfer both stated that the team of characters from Army of Thieves will return in the franchise.

[35] Snyder later expressed interest in exploring additional plot for the character Rolph played by Guz Khan, while confirming potential for a prequel/spin-off from Army of Thieves.

[36] In November of the same year, Khan expressed interest in exploring where Rolph and Alexis "Brad Cage" Broschini (portrayed by Stuart Martin) are post-zombie apocalypse in events taking place after Army of the Dead.

[37] In September 2020, an anime prequel-television series titled Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas, was announced to be in development as an exclusive streaming release for Netflix.

[13][38] The following month, Deborah Snyder, Wesley Coller, Jay Oliva, and Shay Hatten were named as additional executive producers.

During the same interview, Snyder stated that one scene would have featured the mercenary team stepping through a portal and interacting with intergalactic aliens.

The short stars Forrest Griffin as a fictionalized version of himself, a police officer who discovers an illegal street fighting ring where people battle zombies.

[43] A prequel short film released as a compilation of the in-universe YouTube videos, following the character Guzman as he hunts zombies.

Credited as the career-making moment for Bates, the physical album is considered a collector's item, while the score received praise from music critics.