This is an accepted version of this page
151-693: Zachary Edward Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American filmmaker. He made his feature film debut in 2004 with Dawn of the Dead , a remake of the 1978 horror film of the same name . Since then, he has directed or produced a number of comic book and superhero films, including 300 (2006) and Watchmen (2009), as well as the Superman film that started the DC Extended Universe , Man of Steel (2013), and its follow-ups, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017),
302-504: A BFA in film in 1989. The production notes for Snyder's first film Dawn of the Dead describes Snyder as "a comic book and horror film enthusiast in his youth". After graduating, Snyder directed commercials as well as music videos for ZZ Top and Morrissey , where he met his future wife Deborah, who was then a music producer. Snyder directed "Respect" for Budweiser , which came out in February 2002. The 60-second commercial depicts
453-458: A first-person video-game perspective at the beginning of the film to be praiseworthy, more so than those of the video game films Resident Evil (2002) and House of the Dead (2003). The lack of dark humor of the original was a source of criticism, although the scene in which survivors shoot zombified celebrity look-alikes with a sniper rifle was considered by most to be funny, among other jokes; The Hollywood Reporter cited it as some of
604-471: A trade paperback . This first Sin City "yarn" was rereleased in 1995 under the name The Hard Goodbye . Sin City proved to be Miller's main project for much of the remainder of the decade, as Miller told more Sin City stories within this noir world of his creation, in the process helping to revitalize the crime comics genre. Sin City proved artistically auspicious for Miller and again brought his work to
755-429: A $ 25 million defamation and economic interference lawsuit against Miller and fellow producer Silenn Thomas. L'Heureux alleged the pair had repeatedly made, "false, misleading and defamatory statements" about L'Heureux's ownership of the developmental rights of Sin City and Hard Boiled to Skydance Media CEO David Ellison and other Skydance executives and prevented the creation of a film adaptation of Hard Boiled and
906-476: A 2006 film adaptation of 300 , directed by Zack Snyder , brought new attention to Miller's original comic book work. A sequel to the film, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For , based on Miller's second Sin City series and co-directed by Miller and Robert Rodriguez, was released in theaters on August 22, 2014. In July 2011, while at San Diego Comic-Con promoting his upcoming graphic novel Holy Terror , in which
1057-536: A TV series based on Sin City . Miller's attorney Allen Grodsky denied the allegation stating, "The claims asserted in Mr. L'Heureux's lawsuit are baseless, and we will be aggressively defending this lawsuit." Miller was married to colorist Lynn Varley from 1986 to 2005. She colored many of his most acclaimed works (from Ronin in 1984 through 300 in 1998) and the backgrounds to the 2006 movie 300 . Miller has been romantically linked to Kimberly Halliburton Cox, who had
1208-742: A billboard for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention with the message "You are not alone" in a scene in Zack Snyder's Justice League . The film features other tributes to his late daughter. Snyder directed two PSAs for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in 2018. In 2021, Snyder partnered with Save the Children , a global child rights organization, to build a 100-bed temporary hospital facility in New Delhi to help fight
1359-530: A cameo in The Spirit (2008). In response to claims that his comics are conservative , Miller said, "I'm not a conservative. I'm a libertarian ." Miller is a recovering alcoholic, and states that he used alcohol heavily in his early career to free him from inhibitions and increase his creative output. Although still conforming to traditional comic book styles, Miller infused his first issue of Daredevil with his own film noir style. Miller sketched
1510-614: A comedy film. In a November 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter , Snyder stated that while he no longer has any interest in tackling superhero comic book adaptations in light of the DCEU continuity's conclusion with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom , he would only consider returning for the DC Universe if James Gunn invites him back to direct a faithful adaptation of Miller's The Dark Knight Returns comic book. Snyder
1661-554: A critical success and further cemented Miller's place as an industry star. His first creator-owned title was DC Comics' six-issue miniseries Ronin (1983–1984). In 1985, DC Comics named Miller as one of the honorees in the company's 50th-anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great . Miller was involved in a few unpublished projects in the early 1980s. A house advertisement for Doctor Strange appeared in Marvel Comics cover-dated February 1981. It stated "Watch for
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#17327802635031812-561: A delivery truck carrying survivors enters the lot, pursued by zombies. C.J. and Bart want to turn them away but are overruled and disarmed. The newcomers include Norma, Steve, Tucker, Monica, Glen, Frank and his daughter Nicole. Another woman is too ill to walk; she is wheeled inside, only to die and reanimate. After she is killed, the group determines the disease is passed by bites. Frank, who has been bitten, elects to be isolated. When he dies and turns, Kenneth shoots him. Andre leaves to see Luda, who has hidden her scratch. Kenneth and Andy start
1963-407: A flattering introduction to an early collected edition of The Dark Knight Returns , and the two have remained friends. Moore has praised Miller's realistic use of minimal dialogue in fight scenes, which "move very fast, flowing from image to image with the speed of a real-life conflict, unimpeded by the reader having to stop to read a lot of accompanying text". Miller's graphic novel Holy Terror
2114-412: A four-issue miniseries for Dark Horse. Give Me Liberty was followed by sequel miniseries and specials expanding on the story of protagonist Martha Washington , an African-American woman in modern and near-future North America, all of which were written by Miller and drawn by Gibbons. Miller wrote the scripts for the science fiction films RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3 , about a police cyborg . Neither
2265-495: A friendship, communicating with messages written on whiteboards; romance also buds between Ana and Michael, and Nicole and Terry. When the power goes out, C.J., Bart, Michael and Kenneth go to the parking garage to activate the emergency generator; they find a friendly dog named Chips, signifying a breach. Zombies attack and kill Bart, forcing the others to douse the zombies in gas and set them ablaze. Meanwhile, Luda — tied up by Andre — dies giving birth and reanimates as Norma checks on
2416-420: A group coming together to work as a community who wouldn't otherwise work together. So there is that foundation of love, that basic message, within even Dawn of the Dead ... Zack Snyder chose to direct the remake as his first feature film because it gave the television commercial director "a reason to care about every shot". Not wanting his version inevitably compared to George A. Romero 's, he concurred with
2567-422: A group of horses traveling toward the site of the 9/11 terror attacks to pay their respects to the victims with a bow. Snyder made his feature film debut with the remake of the horror film Dawn of the Dead (2004), and scored a box office hit with the fantasy war film 300 (2006), adapted from writer-artist Frank Miller 's Dark Horse Comics miniseries of the same name . His Warner Bros. film Watchmen
2718-456: A huge advocate for the rights of all ethnicities and every walk of life. I would say I'm a pretty liberal guy. I want to make sure everyone's heard and everyone feels included. I don't have a rightwing political agenda. People see what they want to see. For me, that was not certainly the point. Snyder's body of work has earned him a number of awards, including two Clio Awards and a Gold Lion Award for his Jeep " Frisbee " commercial.He also won
2869-516: A legend of comic books. However, later material such as Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again received mixed reviews. In particular, All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder was widely considered a sign of Miller's creative decline. Fellow comic book writer Alan Moore has described Miller's work from Sin City -onward as homophobic and misogynistic , despite praising his early Batman and Daredevil material. Moore previously penned
3020-509: A lot of new fans". Newman and Abraham bought the rights to Dawn of the Dead from its producer and rights holder Richard P. Rubinstein , who was reluctant at first as he was "concerned that somewhere along the way a studio would sanitize Newman's vision for producing a version with 'attitude'", but that it was "Marc Abraham's long track record in keeping the creative integrity of the studio distributed films he has produced intact that gave me reason to say 'yes'". Newman hired James Gunn to write
3171-575: A major part in the character's youth: Stick , leader of the ninja clan the Chaste , who had been Murdock's sensei after he was blinded and a rival clan called the Hand . Unable to handle both writing and penciling Daredevil on the new monthly schedule, Miller began increasingly relying on Janson for the artwork, sending him looser and looser pencils beginning with #173. By issue #185, Miller had virtually relinquished his role as Daredevil's artist, and he
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#17327802635033322-408: A major voice against censorship in comics. After announcing he intended to release his work only via the independent publisher Dark Horse Comics , Miller completed one final project for Epic Comics , the mature-audience imprint of Marvel Comics. Elektra Lives Again was a fully painted graphic novel written and drawn by Miller and colored by longtime partner Lynn Varley . Telling the story of
3473-743: A meathead with a movie camera?" Film critic Armond White listed Snyder as one of the four best filmmakers of the 2010s. Director James Cameron praised Snyder, listing him as one of the filmmakers who created their own "cinematic language". In 2009, Snyder listed Excalibur , Mad Max 2 , A Clockwork Orange , Blue Velvet , and RoboCop as his five favorite films. Snyder lives in Pasadena , California with his second wife, producer Deborah Johnson . The couple first met in 1996, began dating in 2002, and married on September 25, 2004, at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Manhattan, New York. He
3624-448: A nearby mall and are attacked by a zombified security guard, who scratches Luda. Three living guards — C.J., Bart, and Terry — force them to surrender their weapons in exchange for refuge. Together they secure the mall. On the roof, they see another survivor, Andy, stranded in his gun store across the zombie-infested parking lot. The group notices a military helicopter and attempts to get the pilot's attention, but to no avail. The next day,
3775-581: A new form of more adult-oriented storytelling to both comics fans and a crossover mainstream audience. The Dark Knight Returns influenced the comic-book industry by heralding a new wave of darker characters. The trade paperback collection proved to be a big seller for DC and remains in print. By this time, Miller had returned as the writer of Daredevil . Following his self-contained story "Badlands", penciled by John Buscema , in #219 (June 1985), he co-wrote #226 (Jan. 1986) with departing writer Dennis O'Neil . Then, with artist David Mazzucchelli , he crafted
3926-556: A one-page war-comic job." The Grand Comics Database does not list this job; there may have been a one-page DC story, or Shooter may have misremembered the page count or have been referring to the two-page story, by writer Roger McKenzie , as "Slowly, painfully, you dig your way from the cold, choking debris" in Weird War Tales #68 (October 1978). Other fledgling work at DC included the six-page "The Greatest Story Never Told", by writer Paul Kupperberg , in that same issue, and
4077-410: A pack of louts, thieves, and rapists, fed by Woodstock -era nostalgia and putrid false righteousness." He said of the movement, "Wake up, pond scum. America is at war against a ruthless enemy. Maybe, between bouts of self-pity and all the other tasty tidbits of narcissism you've been served up in your sheltered, comfy little worlds, you've heard terms like al-Qaeda and Islamicism ." Miller's statement
4228-476: A production timeline at this time. Zack Snyder held the television rights to an adaptation of Black Kiss , a late-'80s comic by Howard Chaykin. Snyder wrote the pilot, but couldn't find any takers. In 2022, Snyder expressed interest in directing a science fiction film adaptation of the Adult Swim cartoon series Rick and Morty , feeling that such a film would be the closest project he could tackle to make
4379-567: A reboot of the Superman franchise and the jumpstart to the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) and produced the prequel/sequel to 300 , 300: Rise of an Empire (2014). During Comic Con 2013, Snyder announced that Batman and Superman would share the screen in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice , released in 2016. Snyder directed, Cavill reprised his role as Superman, and Ben Affleck played Batman. Snyder directed Warner Bros.' 2017 Justice League , but he exited during post-production to deal with
4530-433: A scheduled date night, they miss several emergency news bulletins . The next morning, a zombified neighborhood girl, Vivian, enters their bedroom and kills Luis, who immediately reanimates and attacks Ana. She flees the chaotic neighborhood in her car, crashes, and passes out. Upon awakening, Ana joins police sergeant Kenneth Hall, electronics salesman Michael, petty criminal Andre and his pregnant wife Luda. They break into
4681-436: A sentiment also shared by IGN . Lisa Schwarzbaum praised Snyder's direction in "a killer feature debut", while Roger Ebert said in a positive review that anyone paying to see it is guaranteed to get their money's worth. Abundant praise was given to the film's opening sequence, which an otherwise negative review from The Hollywood Reporter called "pulse-poundingly good". Gingold found Snyder's camerawork utilizing
Zack Snyder - Misplaced Pages Continue
4832-412: A seven-issue story arc that, like The Dark Knight Returns , similarly redefined and reinvigorated its main character. The storyline, " Daredevil: Born Again ", in #227–233 (February–August 1986) chronicled the hero's Catholic background and the destruction and rebirth of his real-life identity, Manhattan attorney Matt Murdock, at the hands of Daredevil's nemesis, the crime lord Wilson Fisk, also known as
4983-401: A similar situation. The script was given uncredited rewrites by Michael Tolkin and Scott Frank ; co-producer Richard P. Rubinstein said Tolkin further developed the characters while Frank provided some of the bigger, upbeat action scenes. Gunn revealed he received internet backlash over the film due to his past screenwriting credit on Scooby-Doo (2002), believing him to be unqualified for
5134-519: A suitable upscale mall location for the film, production designer Andrew Neskoromny looked for existing malls that were scheduled for demolition. His search yielded no results until he found the now-defunct Thornhill Square shopping mall in Toronto , Ontario, Canada, which measured approximately 45,000 square feet (1.0 acre). Dubbed the "Crossroads Mall", the crew completely redid the mall over an eight-week period, adding an expensive water feature near
5285-846: A superficial reality to superheroes which is rather stupid. They work best as the flamboyant fantasies they are. I mean, these are characters that are broad and big. I don't need to see sweat patches under Superman 's arms. I want to see him fly." Miller considers the Argentinian comic book artist Alberto Breccia as one of his personal mentors, even declaring that (regarding modernity in comics), "It all started with Breccia". In that same regard, Miller's work in Sin City has been analyzed by South American writers and artists –as well as European critics like Yexus – as being based or inspired in Breccia's groundbreaking style, especially regarding
5436-454: A team-up with Doctor Strange while the 1981 Annual showcased a meeting with the Punisher . As penciller and co-plotter, Miller, together with writer Chris Claremont , produced the miniseries Wolverine #1–4 (Sept.-Dec. 1982), inked by Josef Rubinstein and spinning off from the popular X-Men title. Miller used this miniseries to expand on Wolverine's character. The series was
5587-522: A total of 3,000 makeups completed when filming ended on September 6, 2003. The visual effects for the film were provided by Canadian VFX studio Mr. X Inc., with its president Dennis Berardi serving as the film's co- VFX supervisor . The production shot scenes for which Snyder wanted as many as 4,000 live-action zombies, which Berardi created rather as a combination of practical zombies and CG zombies which he built as 3D models with Autodesk Maya . One such scene involved tens of thousands of zombies at
5738-585: A two-disc collector's edition Blu-ray of Dawn of the Dead , which contains the film's theatrical version and the director's cut. The Blu-ray, which is said to have been "derived from the digital intermediate archival negative ", contains bonus features found in previous releases in addition to new and exclusive ones featuring interviews with actors Ty Burrell and Jake Weber , screenwriter James Gunn , and makeup effects artists David LeRoy Anderson and Heather Langenkamp . A 4K Ultra HD collector's edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory with extras ported over from
5889-437: A wider Western audience. During this time, Miller (along with Marv Wolfman , Alan Moore , and Howard Chaykin ) had been in dispute with DC Comics over a proposed ratings system for comics. Disagreeing with what he saw as censorship, Miller refused to do any further work for DC, and he took his future projects to the independent publisher Dark Horse Comics . From then on Miller was a major supporter of creator rights and became
6040-526: A wider audience without comics. Miller lived in Los Angeles , California in the 1990s, which influenced Sin City . He later lived in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City , which was also an influence. Daredevil: The Man Without Fear was a five issue miniseries published by Marvel Comics in 1993. In this story, Miller and artist John Romita Jr. told Daredevil's origins differently from in
6191-557: A winter 1983 interview as the issue he is most proud of; by this time, he had transformed a second-tier character into one of Marvel's most popular. Additionally, Miller drew a short Batman Christmas story, "Wanted: Santa Claus – Dead or Alive", written by Dennis O'Neil for DC Special Series #21 (Spring 1980). This was his first professional experience with a character with which, like Daredevil, he became closely associated. At Marvel, O'Neil and Miller collaborated on two issues of The Amazing Spider-Man Annual . The 1980 Annual featured
Zack Snyder - Misplaced Pages Continue
6342-414: Is an accepted version of this page Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book artist, comic book writer, and screenwriter known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on Daredevil , for which he created the character Elektra , and subsequent Daredevil: Born Again , The Dark Knight Returns , Batman: Year One , Sin City , and 300 . Miller
6493-511: Is attacked by a swarm of zombies before the camcorder drops. Additional members of the cast include stuntman Ermes Blarasin as the bloated woman, Natalie Brown as a CDC reporter, and dog actor Blu as Nicole's adopted pet dog Chips. Director Zack Snyder cameos as a soldier battling zombies at the United States Capitol during the film's title sequence , as do Scott Reiniger , Tom Savini , and Ken Foree (who were in
6644-529: Is noted for combining film noir and manga influences in his comic art creations. He said: "I realized when I started Sin City that I found American and English comics be too wordy, too constipated, and Japanese comics to be too empty. So I was attempting to do a hybrid." Miller has received every major comic book industry award, and in 2015 he was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame. Miller's feature film work includes writing
6795-545: Is set to direct a new feature action film for Netflix, centered around the Los Angeles Police Department , co-writing the script with frequent collaborator Kurt Johnstad. Snyder often uses slow motion , particularly the technique of speed ramping , in and out of the fight scenes in his films. This differs from other directors who make multiple cuts and close-ups during a fight. A minute-long shot from 300 shows King Leonidas slaughtering his enemies,
6946-799: Is tentatively credited with the three-page story "Royal Feast" in the licensed TV series comic book The Twilight Zone #84 (June 1978), by an unknown writer, and is credited with the five-page "Endless Cloud", also by an unknown writer, in the following issue (July 1978). By the time of the latter, Miller had his first confirmed credit in writer Wyatt Gwyon's six-page "Deliver Me From D-Day", inked by Danny Bulanadi, in Weird War Tales #64 (June 1978). Former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter recalled Miller going to DC Comics after having broken in with "a small job from Western Publishing , I think. Thus emboldened, he went to DC, and after getting savaged by Joe Orlando , got in to see art director Vinnie Colletta , who recognized talent and arranged for him to get
7097-531: The BBC , who also credited the actor with "bringing a redoubtable decency and charisma to a potentially bland part, like the young Roy Scheider in Jaws ". On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 76% of 195 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "A kinetic, violent and surprisingly worthy remake of George Romero's horror classic that pays homage to
7248-591: The COVID-19 pandemic in India . Although his films have been critiqued as having " right-wing " messages, politically, Snyder is a Democrat . He endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election . In a 2021 interview with The Guardian , he stated: I vote Democrat! I'm a true lover of individual rights. I've always been a super-strong advocate of women's rights and a woman's right to choose, and I've always been surrounded by powerful women. And, of course, I'm
7399-523: The Kingpin . After completing the "Born Again" arc, Frank Miller intended to produce a two-part story with artist Walt Simonson but it was never completed and remains unpublished. Miller and artist Bill Sienkiewicz produced the graphic novel Daredevil: Love and War in 1986. Featuring the character of the Kingpin, it indirectly bridges Miller's first run on Daredevil and Born Again by explaining
7550-452: The resurrection of Elektra from the dead and Daredevil's quest to find her, as well as showing Miller's will to experiment with new story-telling techniques. 1990 saw Miller and artist Geof Darrow start work on Hard Boiled , a three-issue miniseries. The title, a mix of violence and satire, was praised for Darrow's highly detailed art and Miller's writing. At the same time, Miller and artist Dave Gibbons produced Give Me Liberty ,
7701-590: The American Gold rush era. Following Rebel Moon , Snyder will return to direct Planet of the Dead , a sequel to Army of the Dead . He also signed a first-look deal with Netflix. Snyder has been developing Horse Latitudes , a film about two war photographers since 2011, although the project is on hold while he works at Netflix.After a period of relative silence on the film, Snyder mentioned to DC Cinematic Cast on September 13, 2024, that Horse Latitudes had found an investor. He had no additional news about
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#17327802635037852-508: The Body Snatchers (1978), The Thing (1982), and The Fly (1986) as influences on the remake, considering these to be "amazing updates" as well as "great movies that add to rather than diminish the original films". By way of respect to Romero's film, the producers cast the original's Tom Savini , Scott Reiniger , and Ken Foree in cameos; and incorporated visual references to Gaylen Ross and James A. Baffico . In writing
8003-510: The Boy Robot , published as a two-part miniseries by Dark Horse. In 1999, it became an animated series on Fox Kids . Written and illustrated by Miller with painted colors by Varley, 300 was a 1998 comic-book miniseries , released as a hardcover collection in 1999, retelling the Battle of Thermopylae and the events leading up to it from the perspective of Leonidas of Sparta. 300
8154-523: The Christ in its United States opening weekend, with an audience base comprising largely young males and estimated gross of $ 22 million. In the U.S. and Canada, the film was released alongside Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Taking Lives , on March 19, 2004. Dawn of the Dead ended up performing above projections, debuting to $ 27.3 million in its U.S. opening weekend and claiming
8305-677: The DVD and Blu-ray include Snyder and co-producer Eric Newman 's audio commentary ; the featurettes Attack of the Living Dead , Raising the Dead , Drawing the Dead , Splitting Headaches , Surviving the Dawn , and Special Report: Zombie Invasion ; the short film The Lost Tape: Andy's Terrifying Last Days Revealed ; deleted scenes with optional commentary by Snyder and Newman; and the film's theatrical trailer . On Halloween of 2017, Shout! Factory 's horror sub-label Scream Factory released
8456-403: The Dead projects ; Army of Thieves , a prequel released in 2021, and Planet of the Dead , a sequel to be created. On May 20, 2020, Snyder announced that Zack Snyder's Justice League would be released on the streaming service HBO Max in 2021. The film was released on March 18, 2021. In July 2021, Snyder was officially announced to be developing the film Rebel Moon for Netflix . It
8607-755: The King Arthur legend from the point of view of the Lady of the Lake in October 2019. In December 2019, DC released Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child , the fifth series in The Dark Knight Returns universe to mixed reviews. It is written by Miller with artwork by Rafael Grampa. In July 2020, Netflix released a 10-episode series based on Cursed with Miller and Wheeler serving as both creators and executive producers. On April 28, 2022, it
8758-523: The Richard Cheese version in favor of the Disturbed version, but he managed to convince them that the former was appropriate for the scene. Snyder also stated his rationale behind the decision to play " People Who Died " by The Jim Carroll Band at the end of the film: "I really love that [opening chords of 'People Who Died'] DANG! DANG! DANG, DANG, DANG! I thought that it was cool as a way to end
8909-509: The Rise of Alexander , which marked his first work as both writer and artist comics creation since Holy Terror . In 2017 Miller announced he was writing a Superman: Year One project with artwork by John Romita Jr. The three-issue series was released by DC Black Label from June to October 2019 and received mixed reviews. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing published his and author Tom Wheeler 's young-adult novel Cursed , about
9060-588: The Society of British Advertisers Award for Humor for his controversial EB Beer commercial "General's Party." Dawn of the Dead (2004 film) Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 action horror film directed by Zack Snyder in his feature directorial debut, with a screenplay by James Gunn . A remake of George A. Romero 's 1978 film of the same name , it stars an ensemble cast that includes Sarah Polley , Jake Weber , Ving Rhames , and Mekhi Phifer , with Scott Reiniger , Tom Savini , and Ken Foree from
9211-482: The Toronto set and set up their makeup effects lab next to the mall. To depict a heightened realistic look to the zombies, Anderson researched on the appearance of decay following human death , looking through several medical books, war footages, and crime scene photographs showing graphic images of trauma victims; he broke down the look of decomposition into three stages: The first stage looks like someone who
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#17327802635039362-434: The U.S. first" in order to avoid this conflict. Dawn of the Dead was screened out of competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival . Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released Dawn of the Dead on DVD , Blu-ray , and digital with director Zack Snyder's unrated director's cut of the film: he described this version as longer, gorier, and more character-driven than the theatrical one. Bonus features found on
9513-482: The United States and Canada and $ 43.3 million in other territories. The release of Dawn of the Dead in the U.S. nearly coincided with that of Shaun of the Dead , another zombie film distributed by Universal Pictures . In a February 2004 Variety report, a spokesman at Universal revealed that the studio had greenlit Shaun of the Dead "with the condition that Dawn of the Dead would be released here in
9664-474: The artists. Issue one was the top-selling comic of November 2015, moving an estimated 440,234 copies. In 2016, Miller and Azzarello also co-wrote the graphic novel, The Dark Knight Returns: The Last Crusade with art by John Romita Jr. and Peter Steigerwald. From April to August 2018, Dark Horse Comics published monthly Miller's five-issue miniseries sequel to 300 , Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and
9815-490: The back of the actor's head to be detonated. Concerned about the risk thereof, Anderson developed an alternative method in which his team would attach wires to the scalps loaded with blood packs and yank them with a remote-controlled "air ratchet system", lending a similar gruesome effect as with the squibs sans potential harm. Filming began on June 9, 2003, on location in various parts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Hundreds of zombie extras had to be constantly available for
9966-577: The best horror films of the decade, including number 3 by Dread Central (2010), number 8 by Bloody Disgusting (2009), number 52 by IGN , and number 55 by Rolling Stone (2020). The film made review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes 's lists of "The 20 Scariest Opening Scenes in Horror Movie History" (at number 6), "The 25 Best Horror Movie Remakes" (at number 9), "The 30 Essential Zombie Movies" (at number 13), and "18 Memorable Horror Remakes". Frank Miller (comics) This
10117-403: The camera his mother bought him, using it to make an unflattering commentary about his school's administration that got him expelled. Afterward, Snyder attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena , California. His classmates included fellow future Hollywood directors Michael Bay and Tarsem Singh . Despite being Indian, Singh also played a Nazi in a short film by Snyder. He graduated with
10268-442: The camera zooming in and out to emphasize each kill and move Leonidas makes. Snyder said There are other superhero movies where they joke about how basically no one's getting hurt. That's not us. What is that message? That it's okay that there's this massive destruction with zero consequence for anyone? That's what Watchmen was about in a lot of ways too. There was a scene, that scene where Dan and Laurie get mugged. They beat up
10419-461: The change in the Kingpin's attitude toward Daredevil. Miller and Sienkiewicz also produced the eight-issue miniseries Elektra: Assassin for Epic Comics . Set outside regular Marvel continuity, it featured a wild tale of cyborgs and ninjas , while expanding further on Elektra's background. Both of these projects were critically well received. Elektra: Assassin was praised for its bold storytelling, but neither it nor Daredevil: Love and War had
10570-421: The characters show a lack of common sense , "it's inevitable that most of them end up as one-dimensional throw-aways whose sole purpose is to increase the body count " and that "not many people go to a horror film looking for character development and drama". He and Ebert found the subplots of Kenneth and Andre to be "touching", with Berardinelli stating that these were "handled with a deft hand". Although Ebert
10721-412: The concept of running zombies, which he said was his "fresh, new way" of giving it a sense of verisimilitude and rendering zombies as if they were real threats, especially when they attack in hordes. Snyder maintained Gunn's decision not to reveal the origin of the zombie outbreak, believing it was "obvious that in this fallen society , you wouldn't know where the whole plague started". In searching for
10872-439: The couple. When Norma kills the zombified Luda, Andre snaps; they exchange gunfire and both are killed. The others arrive to find a zombie infant, which they kill immediately. The group plans to get to the local marina, find Steve's yacht and travel to an island on Lake Michigan . They reinforce two shuttle buses from the parking garage for their escape. To rescue Andy, the group straps supplies onto Chips's body and lower him into
11023-504: The criminals. I was like the first guy, I want to show his arm get broken. I want a compound fracture. I don't want it to be clean. I want you to go, 'Oh my God, I guess you're right. If you just beat up a guy in an alley he's not going to just be lying on the ground. It's going to be messy'. The Netflix production Army of the Dead was a special project for Snyder as he served as his own cinematographer, as well as this being his first film shot digitally. Snyder has been described as one of
11174-424: The death of his daughter, Autumn Snyder. His replacement was Joss Whedon . On January 29, 2019, Snyder announced that he had signed on to helm Army of the Dead , a zombie heist thriller, for Netflix . Snyder directed and produced the film with his partner and wife, Deborah Snyder, via their newly rebranded production company, The Stone Quarry . His agreement with Netflix has since expanded into several Army of
11325-446: The death of the second Robin ( Jason Todd ) and, at age 55, returns to fight crime in a dark and violent future. Miller created a tough, gritty Batman, referring to him as "The Dark Knight" based upon his being called the "Darknight Detective" in some 1970s portrayals, although the nickname "Dark Knight" for Batman dates back to 1940. Released the same year as Alan Moore 's and Dave Gibbons ' DC miniseries Watchmen , it showcased
11476-536: The director on 300 (2006), Watchmen (2009), and Sucker Punch (2011). In a 2023 interview with Total Film , Snyder revealed he had lobbied for the inclusion of the Richard Cheese cover of " Down with the Sickness ", originally sung by the heavy metal band Disturbed , which plays in a montage where the characters relieve boredom in the mall. According to Snyder, the studio originally declined
11627-423: The entire shoot. To handle the volume of willing extras, Anderson and his team built a large "factory" where painted extras would stay put until they are spoken for by either the main or second unit film crew. They built various makeup rooms for the artists to work in: one consisted of camper trailers where they would apply detailed prosthetic makeups to extras playing "hero zombies", a special type of zombie; and
11778-399: The entrance, 14 stores, parking structures, and warehouse areas. Since Snyder wanted the stores palpable in terms of design and stood not merely as storefronts , Neskoromny's team accordingly built them as actual retail stores complete with merchandise. These stores were given fake names, since only two major retail brands agreed to be featured in the film. The special makeup effects for
11929-434: The face of all that and some of the people are redeemed and end up becoming good people and some of them are not redeemed and they end up, you know, not redeemed. And that's what kind of drove me throughout the story, was it was a story about redemption. I also think that there's a lot about how people survive and what people turn to in the face of such tragedy. The tragedy in this case being flesh-eating zombies. And really it's
12080-487: The fantastic special effects makeup, the brief flirtation with found footage , and the reverence for its source text while introducing something new makes 2004's Dawn of the Dead one of the best remakes on the market. Likewise, Dawn of the Dead has appeared on several lists of the top zombie films, including number 3 by Rolling Stone (2012), number 12 by Empire (2020), by Collider (2021), number 17 by IndieWire (2022), and by Variety (2023); as well as
12231-607: The fifth of seven children of a nurse mother and a carpenter/electrician father. His family was Irish Catholic . Miller grew up a comics fan; a letter he wrote to Marvel Comics was published in The Cat #3 (April 1973). His first published work was at Western Publishing 's Gold Key Comics imprint , received at the recommendation of comics artist Neal Adams , to whom a fledgling Miller, after moving to New York City, had shown samples and received much critique and occasional informal lessons. Though no published credits appear, he
12382-434: The film after he was recommended to it by its music supervisor , G. Marq Roswell , who learned he made little money from his work on Mario Van Peebles 's film Baadasssss! (2003), on which Roswell also served as music supervisor. The studio was not convinced with hiring Bates because they felt he was not an established composer at the time, but director Zack Snyder insisted on him, and he was ultimately hired. In scoring
12533-555: The film as a "stylish, gore-drenched shoot-em-up", and Dargis attributed its appeal not to the bloody violence but to "the filmmakers' commitment to genre fundamentals". Writing in a positive review, internet-based critic James Berardinelli said fans of "tight, tense, graphic horror" should be able to enjoy the same aplenty in Dawn of the Dead . While Schwarzbaum and Dargis complimented Gunn's script as "sharp" and propulsive, respectively, others took issue with what they believed to be
12684-683: The film in his place. Following his daughter's suicide, Snyder became involved in philanthropic activities directed towards suicide prevention and mental health awareness . Snyder promoted this effort on social media by selling clothing and merchandise related to the Snyder Cut; in May 2021, it was revealed that this effort had raised more than $ 750,000 in charitable donations to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention . In another effort to help with suicide prevention, Snyder included
12835-420: The film on its 15th anniversary in 2019, Joe Lipsett wrote the following verdict for Bloody Disgusting : Fifteen years later, Dawn of the Dead completely holds up. The film's flaws are mostly at the character level, though having a dumb zombie baby and a few undeveloped red shirts in the mix is hardly a deal breaker. The action – particularly the opening scene and the propane explosion climax – in addition to
12986-700: The film screened in Cinemark theaters across the U.S for one day only. In October 2012, Joanna Gallardo-Mills, who began working for Miller as an executive coordinator in November 2008, filed suit against Miller in Manhattan for discrimination and "mental anguish", stating that Miller's former girlfriend, Kimberly Cox, created a hostile work environment for Gallardo-Mills in Miller and Cox's Hell's Kitchen living and work space. In July 2020, producer Stephen L'Heureux, who worked on Sin City: A Dame to Kill For , filed
13137-428: The film were created by David LeRoy Anderson , with assistance from his actress wife Heather Langenkamp . Prior to accepting the job from Universal Studios ' then-executive James D. Brubaker , Anderson had been in a two-year hiatus from working as a makeup effects artist to operate his company DLA Silverwear. Anderson completed his test makeups for the film over a four-week period, and then he and his team traveled to
13288-583: The film's "moments of inspired audacity". Many noted that the fast-moving zombies of Dawn of the Dead were similar to those of 28 Days Later , but felt that the Danny Boyle film was "darker and creepier", "smarter, more rigorously structured", and could pass for a remake of the original. Despite the general praise, some critics said the film gave scant consideration to Romero's satirical critique of consumerism , among other sociopolitical issues. Ebert and Variety stated that whereas Romero used
13439-407: The film, Bates avoided taking cues from the original's music by the band Goblin , finding its style to be incompatible with what Snyder had filmed. Bates's score combines elements of electronic music and 20th-century orchestra , which was influenced by the works of composers adept at creating dissonance , such as Béla Bartók and Krzysztof Penderecki . Bates employed these musical choices with
13590-520: The first full appearance of the ninja mercenary Elektra —who became a popular character and star in a 2005 motion picture—although her first cover appearance was four months earlier on Miller's cover of The Comics Journal #58. Miller later wrote and drew a solo Elektra story in Bizarre Adventures #28 (Oct. 1981). He added a martial arts aspect to Daredevil's fighting skills, and introduced previously unseen characters who had played
13741-640: The five-page "The Edge of History", written by Elliot S. Maggin , in Unknown Soldier #219 (September 1978). His first work for Marvel Comics was penciling the 17-page story "The Master Assassin of Mars, Part 3" in John Carter, Warlord of Mars #18 (November 1978). At Marvel, Miller settled in as a regular fill-in and cover artist, working on a variety of titles. One of these jobs was drawing Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #27–28 (February–March 1979), which guest-starred Daredevil . At
13892-473: The influence or reached as many readers as Dark Knight Returns or Born Again . Miller's final major story in this period was in Batman issues 404–407 in 1987, another collaboration with Mazzucchelli. Titled Batman: Year One , this was Miller's version of the origin of Batman in which he retconned many details and adapted the story to fit his Dark Knight continuity . Proving to be hugely popular, this
14043-443: The intention of making the audience "very, very uncomfortable". Milan Records released Bates's score in physical format for the first time on October 23, 2012, a week after the record label released it digitally via iTunes Store and Amazon Music . The album comprises 31 tracks, all of which were composed by Bates. Dawn of the Dead also marks the first of several collaborations between him and Snyder: he would later compose for
14194-401: The job. However, film critic Harry Knowles , initially an opponent of the remake, read Gunn's script and gave it a positive response on his website Ain't It Cool News , which Gunn said helped eliminate doubts cast upon him by fans of the original. With Dawn of the Dead , Gunn wanted to explore the human condition as well as tell a wholly different story about redemption. He elaborated on
14345-423: The label's previous release was released on January 31, 2023. Dawn of the Dead received generally positive reviews upon its release, with critics praising it as a worthy remake of the original and a fine addition to the zombie genre. The film was considered by most to be an improvement over the original in terms of acting, production values, and scares, although Variety and Derek Malcolm felt that it
14496-454: The lack of plot and character developments. Morris found most of the characters to be too irritating that he believed audiences might want them "thrown from the mall roof to the throngs of undead". The Chicago Tribune said that the characters were clichéd and about as dumb as the undead, though sympathized with the "tragic" moral dilemma faced by Andre as an expectant father. Conversely, Berardinelli said that while there are moments in which
14647-476: The latter of which had a director's cut released in 2021. He also directed the animated film Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010), the psychological action film Sucker Punch (2011), the zombie heist film Army of the Dead (2021), and the two-parter space opera films Rebel Moon (2023) and Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver (2024). In 2004, he founded
14798-450: The latter's chiaroscuros and strong use of stark black-and-white technique. Daredevil: Born Again and The Dark Knight Returns were both critical successes and influential on subsequent generations of creators to the point of being considered classics of the medium. Batman: Year One was also met with praise for its gritty style, while comics including Ronin , 300 and Sin City were also successful, cementing Miller's place as
14949-657: The line" to "respectable" and "annoying". Schwarzbaum and the Chicago Tribune described Sarah Polley 's screen presence as "a perfect against- type heroine" with "a nice anxious stare". IGN was dismayed that least attention was given to Phifer's "naturally charismatic presence" with such a large cast, though felt that Rhames was effective as Polley's "quietly authoritative foil " and praised Jake Weber 's performance in "a thankless role". While giving equal praise to Polley, Phifer, and Rhames, Gingold singled out Weber's existentialist role as "the best of all", as did
15100-483: The mall's parking lot, which was shot with motion-control passes whose green screen elements of 200 extras, combined with the CG zombies, were later composited to create a "digital crowd simulation that looks realistic". Kyle Cooper designed the title sequence for the film, using real human blood. The score for Dawn of the Dead was composed by Tyler Bates , his first for a horror film. Bates became involved with
15251-432: The mall, they are unable to lock the door, forcing an evacuation via the buses. The survivors fight their way out as the buses drive to the marina. Glen loses control of a chainsaw, accidentally killing himself and Monica; blood splatters on the windshield, causing their bus to crash. Steve leaves the group and is killed by a stowaway zombie. While C.J., Kenneth, and Terry leaves the other bus to look for survivors, Ana kills
15402-431: The most polarizing directors of modern cinema. David Ehrlich of IndieWire wrote that Snyder's "name alone is enough to launch a thousand angry tweets, and the most passionate writing about his work is exclusively found in the comment sections of websites like this one. Snyder's critics really seem to hate him, and Snyder's fans really seem to hate his critics ... Is Snyder a master or a hack? A misunderstood myth-maker, or
15553-531: The movie because it's so dark. It's a bleak ending, in a cool way." "[Y]ou could see a movie with one guy rising from the dead or you can see one with thousands." — James Gunn on the likelihood of Dawn of the Dead being overtaken by The Passion of the Christ at the box office Dawn of the Dead was marketed with its 10-minute opening sequence that was broadcast on cable television four nights prior to its theatrical release. Entertainment Weekly projected that it would outperform The Passion of
15704-402: The music was composed by Tyler Bates in his first collaboration with Snyder. Dawn of the Dead was theatrically released on March 19, 2004, by Universal Pictures . Despite Romero's distaste for it, the film earned generally positive reviews from critics, who saw improvements over the original in terms of acting, production values, and scares. However they felt it lacked character development,
15855-525: The new adventures of Earth's Sorcerer Supreme—as mystically conjured by Roger Stern and Frank Miller!". Miller's only contribution to the series was the cover for Doctor Strange #46 (April 1981). Other commitments prevented him from working on the series. Miller and Steve Gerber made a proposal to revamp DC's three biggest characters: Superman , Batman, and Wonder Woman , under a line called "Metropolis" and comics titled "Man of Steel" or "The Man of Steel", "Dark Knight" and "Amazon". However, this proposal
16006-465: The new penciller on the title. As Miller recalled in 2008: When I first showed up in New York, I showed up with a bunch of comics, a bunch of samples, of guys in trench coats and old cars and such. And [comics editors] said, 'Where are the guys in tights?' And I had to learn how to do it. But as soon as a title came along, when [ Daredevil signature artist] Gene Colan left Daredevil , I realized it
16157-502: The original film appearing in cameos. Set in Milwaukee , the film follows a group of survivors who try to survive a zombie apocalypse holed up in a suburban shopping mall. Producers Eric Newman and Marc Abraham developed the film rather as a "re-envisioning" of the original Dawn of the Dead , aiming to reinvigorate the zombie genre for modern audiences. They bought the rights from co-producer Richard P. Rubinstein (who produced
16308-473: The original film) as a general, sheriff, and televangelist, respectively. Plans to remake 1978's Dawn of the Dead were conceived by producer Eric Newman , a fan of zombie films who cited the George A. Romero horror film as the best in this genre. With the remake, Newman and producer Marc Abraham wanted to reinvigorate the zombie genre for modern audiences as well as "make the old fans happy and make
16459-442: The original while working on its own terms." As of 2024 , Dawn of the Dead is Zack Snyder's highest-rated film on the website. Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. In 2005, George A. Romero spoke briefly of how dissatisfied he
16610-474: The original) and hired Gunn to write the script, which oriented the original's premise around the action genre . Intent on making the remake a straight horror, Snyder took over to direct with the goal of keeping every aspect of the production as grounded in reality as possible. Filming took place from June to September 2003, on location at a Toronto shopping mall that was slated for demolition. The special makeup effects were created by David LeRoy Anderson , and
16761-519: The original, leaving the audience rather numbed and "less mercifully handled, even at the end-credits". Wesley Morris gave a negative review in which he said the film "feels like the product of the PlayStation era" as opposed to a reverence for Romero. Elvis Mitchell had similar objections, writing that "[t]he flesh-eaters are picked off like video-game targets". Conversely, the BBC complimented
16912-467: The other consisted of tents where they would produce painted masks for extras playing background zombies. Extras playing foreground zombies were painted with plain palette makeups in Anderson's mall lab. The makeup artists were given his concept images to work on as references. According to Anderson and Heather Langenkamp, the most extras they ever had in a given day sat between 200 and 400, with
17063-465: The parking lot; the zombies have no interest in him. Chips enters Andy's store safely, but a zombie follows through the dog door. Nicole, fond of Chips, crashes the delivery truck into the gun store, where a now zombified Andy traps her. Kenneth, Michael, Tucker, Terry, and C.J. reach the gun store via the sewers, kill Andy, and rescue Nicole. They grab ammunition and go back to the mall; along the way, Tucker breaks his legs, and C.J. mercy-kills him. Back to
17214-518: The previous comics, and they provided additional detail to his beginnings. Miller also returned to superheroes by writing issue #11 of Todd McFarlane 's Spawn , as well as the Spawn/Batman crossover for Image Comics . In 1994, Miller became one of the founding members of the comic imprint Legend, under which many of his Sin City works were released via Dark Horse Comics . In 1995, Miller and Darrow collaborated again on Big Guy and Rusty
17365-418: The producers on reimagining the latter film as opposed to doing it as a "remake", which, in his view, would have entailed re-shooting Romero's script. For that matter, he aimed to make his film a straight horror that was "as serious as a heart attack" and keep every aspect of its production as grounded in reality as possible. His approach included previsualizing the film with storyboards and introducing
17516-802: The production company The Stone Quarry (formerly known as Cruel and Unusual Films) alongside his wife Deborah Snyder and producing partner Wesley Coller. Zachary Edward Snyder was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin , and raised in Riverside, Connecticut . His mother, Marsha Manley ( née Reeves; d. 2010), was a painter and a photography teacher at Daycroft School , which Snyder later attended. His father, Charles Edward "Ed" Snyder, worked as an executive recruiter. Marsha always nurtured her son's artistic side, buying him his first film camera. He grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut . He has an older sister, Audrey, and
17667-670: The protagonist hero fights Al-Qaeda terrorists, Miller made a remark about Islamic terrorism and Islam , saying, "I was raised Catholic and I could tell you a lot about the Spanish Inquisition , but the mysteries of the Catholic Church elude me. And I could tell you a lot about Al-Qaeda, but the mysteries of Islam elude me too." In November 2011, Miller posted remarks pertaining to the Occupy Wall Street movement on his blog, calling it "nothing but
17818-540: The redemptive theme of the film in an interview with IGN during a press junket for Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed released that same year: [...] Dawn of the Dead is about redemption because it's about a bunch of people who have lived certain lives, who have maybe not been the best people, and suddenly they have everything that they've used to define themselves: Their careers, their churches, their jobs, their families are stripped away. They're gone. They start at nothing and they have to become who they really are in
17969-476: The roofs of New York in an attempt to give his Daredevil art an authentic feel not commonly seen in superhero comics at the time. One journalist commented: Daredevil's New York, under Frank's run, became darker and more dangerous than the Spider-Man New York he'd seemingly lived in before. New York City itself, particularly Daredevil's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, became as much a character as
18120-587: The script, Gunn took an action-oriented approach while remaining faithful to the basic premise of Romero's version. To develop the plot, he declined to write a treatment in favor of a discovery writing method whereby he would devise hypothetical situations which would ultimately force the characters to evacuate the mall. Gunn decided to leave the origin of the zombie outbreak ambiguous, believing this would give not only equal consideration to each audience's viewpoint (scientific or otherwise) but also something to think about what they would do if they found themselves in
18271-490: The script, and the studio brought Gunn in despite not wanting to deliver them a signal idea for the film beforehand. A fan of the original Dawn of the Dead since he was a young boy, Gunn explained that he took the job because he "kind of saw generally what it could be". The producers conceptualized the remake as more of a "re-envisioning" which would work in some references to the original but would primarily work on its own terms. Co-producer Eric Newman cited Invasion of
18422-518: The scripts for the 1990s science fiction films RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3 , sharing directing duties with Robert Rodriguez on Sin City and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For , producing the film 300 , and directing the film adaptation of The Spirit . Sin City earned a Palme d'Or nomination. Miller was born in Olney, Maryland , on January 27, 1957, and raised in Montpelier, Vermont ,
18573-503: The sequel initially released as a three-issue miniseries, and though it sold well, it received a mixed to negative reception. Miller also returned to writing Batman in 2005, taking on the writing duties of All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder , a series set inside of what Miller describes as the "Dark Knight Universe," and drawn by Jim Lee . All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder also received largely negative reviews. Miller's previous attitude towards movie adaptations
18724-666: The series, as he disliked McKenzie's scripts. Miller's fortunes changed with the arrival of Denny O'Neil as editor. Realizing Miller's unhappiness with the series, and impressed by a backup story Miller had written, O'Neil moved McKenzie to another project so that Miller could try writing the series himself. Miller and O'Neil maintained a friendly working relationship throughout his run on the series. With issue #168 (Jan. 1981), Miller took over full duties as writer and penciller. Sales rose so swiftly that Marvel once again began publishing Daredevil monthly rather than bimonthly just three issues after Miller became its writer. Issue #168 saw
18875-520: The shadowy crimefighter; the stories often took place on the rooftop level, with water towers, pipes and chimneys jutting out to create a skyline reminiscent of German Expressionism 's dramatic edges and shadows. Ronin shows some of the strongest influences of manga and bande dessinée on Miller's style, both in the artwork and narrative style. Sin City was drawn in black and white to emphasize its film noir origins. Miller has said he opposes naturalism in comic art: "People are attempting to bring
19026-442: The shopping mall to stage a metaphor about consumer society, Snyder used it merely as a convenient shelter for his characters. Gingold lamented that unlike Romero's film, Snyder's provided no social commentary on racism through its Black characters Kenneth and Andre as well as the interracial relationship between Andre and Luda. In contrast, Manohla Dargis commented that Romero's consumerist metaphor has lost its significance in
19177-462: The time, sales of the Daredevil title were poor but Miller saw potential in "a blind protagonist in a purely visual medium", as he recalled in 2000. Miller went to writer and staffer Jo Duffy (a mentor-figure whom he called his "guardian angel" at Marvel) and she passed on his interest to editor-in-chief Jim Shooter to get Miller work on Daredevil's regular title. Shooter agreed and made Miller
19328-416: The top spot The Passion of the Christ held for three consecutive weekends. Variety reported, "Some 63% of Dawn [audiences] were under age 25, with 57% of patrons male. Hispanic moviegoers comprised 21% of its supporters and African-Americans 14%." Dawn of the Dead ended its theatrical run as a commercial success, grossing $ 102 million worldwide on a $ 26 million budget; it grossed $ 59 million in
19479-453: The years since the original's release, "with the politics of consumption now an established academic field and shopping now considered a statement of identity ". IGN praised the film's tonal departure from Romero's, calling it "a calculated risk that paid off". The Hollywood Reporter and Chicago Tribune commented that Dawn of the Dead was content to indulge in bloody zombie killings devoid of meaning and introspection once present in
19630-436: The zombified Steve and retrieves his boat keys. Eventually the remaining survivors get to the marina, and C.J. sacrifices himself so the others can escape. Michael reveals a bite wound and kills himself as Ana, Kenneth, Nicole, Terry, and Chips drive away on the yacht. Footage from a camcorder found on the boat shows Steve's escapades before the outbreak and concludes as the group runs out of supplies, approaches an island, and
19781-533: Was accused of being anti-Islamic . Miller later said that he regretted Holy Terror , saying, "I don't want to wipe out chapters of my own biography. But I'm not capable of that book again." Miller's film adaptation of Sin City was well received by audiences and critics. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds an approval rating of 77% based on 254 reviews, with an average rating of 7.50/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Visually groundbreaking and terrifically violent, Sin City brings
19932-472: Was adapted by Steven Grant for Avatar Press 's Pulsaar imprint. Illustrated by Juan Jose Ryp , the series is called Frank Miller's RoboCop and contains plot elements that were divided between RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3 . In 1991, Miller started work on his first Sin City story. Serialized in Dark Horse Presents #51–62, it proved to be another success, and the story was released in
20083-410: Was as influential as Miller's previous work. A trade paperback released in 1988 remains in print, and is one of DC's best selling books. The story was adapted as an original animated film video in 2011. Miller illustrated the covers for the first twelve issues of First Comics ' English-language reprints of Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima 's Lone Wolf and Cub . This helped bring Japanese manga to
20234-443: Was critically well received. In 2007, Miller stated that "There was a lot of interference in the writing process. It wasn't ideal. After working on the two Robocop movies, I really thought that was it for me in the business of film." Miller came into contact with the fictional cyborg once more, writing the comic-book miniseries RoboCop Versus The Terminator , with art by Walter Simonson . In 2003, Miller's screenplay for RoboCop 2
20385-678: Was criticised by fellow comic writer Alan Moore . In a 2018 interview, Miller backed away from his comments saying that he "wasn't thinking clearly" when he made them and alluded to a very dark time in his life during which they were made. On July 10, 2015, at San Diego Comic-Con, Miller was inducted into the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame. From 2015 to 2017, DC released a nine-issue, bimonthly sequel to The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Strikes Again , titled The Dark Knight III: The Master Race . Miller co-wrote it with Brian Azzarello , and Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson were
20536-461: Was excessively gory and also indifferent to Romero's preoccupation with consumerism . Dawn of the Dead was a commercial success, grossing $ 102.3 million worldwide on a $ 26 million budget. Retrospective reviews have called it Snyder's best film. A spiritual successor , Army of the Dead , was released in 2021. After finishing a long shift as a nurse in the Milwaukee area , Ana returns to her suburban neighborhood and her husband, Luis. Caught up in
20687-636: Was focusing its efforts on the Ronin sequel and Pandora , a fantasy adventure series produced together with The Kubert School that Miller described as "look[ing] like a children's book, but it's also a dark fairytale". The documentary film Frank Miller: American Genius premiered on June 6, 2024, at the Angelika Film Center in New York City. The event featured a live introduction with Miller, moderated by author Neil Gaiman. On June 10,
20838-534: Was inspired by Star Wars and the films of Akira Kurosawa . Filming began in April 2022 and lasted until November that year, with the project being developed as a two-part film. Snyder also produced and directed two episodes of Twilight of the Gods , an anime-style web series inspired by Norse mythology , for Netflix. Snyder is developing a King Arthur film, which he said will be a "faithful retelling" set during
20989-538: Was just in the ER – pale, with lots of fresh blood. The second stage has moist wounds but the skin is beginning to break down. There is a lot of discoloration and mottling, mostly blues and greens. The third stage is the most intense, with the skeletal form coming through. The wounds are dried-up, the skin is sloughing off and colors are oily blacks. Head hits were done practically through various methods, such as bullet hit squibs covered with prosthetic scalps and attached to
21140-455: Was my secret in to do crime comics with a superhero in them. And so I lobbied for the title and got it. Daredevil #158 (May 1979), Miller's debut on that title, was the finale of an ongoing story written by Roger McKenzie and inked by Klaus Janson . After this issue, Miller became one of Marvel's rising stars. However, sales on Daredevil did not improve, Marvel's management continued to discuss cancellation, and Miller himself almost quit
21291-435: Was not accepted. In 1986, DC Comics released the writer–penciller Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns , a four-issue miniseries printed in what the publisher called "prestige format"—squarebound, rather than stapled; on heavy-stock paper rather than newsprint, and with cardstock rather than glossy-paper covers. It was inked by Klaus Janson and colored by Lynn Varley . The story tells how Batman retired after
21442-419: Was only intermittently scary. Despite giving it a negative review, Variety said that the film was otherwise "more palatable" than the "atrocious" Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake released the previous year. Michael Gingold stated, "[...] Dawn of the Dead joins The Ring and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as an update that both honors its source and emerges as an effective horror film in its own right",
21593-530: Was particularly inspired by the 1962 film The 300 Spartans , a movie that Miller watched as a young boy. He was one of the artists on the Superman and Batman: World's Funnest one-shot written by Evan Dorkin published in 2000. Miller moved back to Hell's Kitchen by 2001 and was creating Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again as the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred about four miles from that neighborhood. His differences with DC Comics put aside, he saw
21744-456: Was personally not on board with the characters' "risky" plan to escape from the mall in lieu of awaiting the zombies' natural death, he remarked that "taking chances makes for good action scenes". Mitchell criticized the plot as "strictly by the numbers" and said that the climactic gun store scene "shows why zombie pictures aren't unsettling anymore". The ensemble cast was generally praised: comments ranged from "superlative" and "convincing down
21895-476: Was previously married to Denise Weber. Snyder has eight children: two biological children and two adopted daughters with Weber, two biological sons from a relationship with Kirsten Elin, and two adopted children with Johnson. The suicide of his daughter Autumn prompted Snyder to withdraw from post-production work on Justice League in May 2017 to be with his family, which resulted in Joss Whedon completing
22046-461: Was providing only rough layouts for Janson to both pencil and ink, allowing Miller to focus on the writing. Miller's work on Daredevil was characterized by darker themes and stories. This peaked when in #181 (April 1982) he had the assassin Bullseye kill Elektra, and Daredevil subsequently attempt to kill him. Miller finished his Daredevil run with issue #191 (February 1983), which he cited in
22197-539: Was raised as a Christian Scientist . He also had a brother, Sam, who died when Snyder was a teenager. Snyder attended Camp Owatonna in Harrison , Maine , during the summer months as a child. Snyder studied painting a year after high school at Heatherley School of Fine Art in England, although he had already begun filmmaking. Back in high school, Snyder struggled due to his dyslexia and made his first film there with
22348-509: Was released on March 6, 2009, and grossed $ 185 million worldwide. His follow-up project/animation debut, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole , was released on September 24, 2010. Snyder produced, co-wrote, and directed Sucker Punch , which was released on March 25, 2011. The film, based on a script written by Snyder and Steve Shibuya, was about a young woman in a mental hospital who fantasizes of escape with her fellow inmates. He directed 2013's Man of Steel for Warner Bros.,
22499-505: Was reported that Miller was launching an American comic book publishing company titled Frank Miller Presents ( FMP ). Miller will act as the company's president and editor-in-chief, working alongside Dan DiDio as publisher and chief operating officer Silenn Thomas. FMP expects to produce between two and four titles per year, with Miller's initial contributions to include Sin City 1858 and Ronin Book Two . As of November 2023, FMP
22650-449: Was to change after Robert Rodriguez made a short film based on a story from Miller's Sin City entitled " The Customer is Always Right ". Miller was pleased with the result, leading to him and Rodriguez directing a full-length film, Sin City using Miller's original comics panels as storyboards . The film was released in the U.S. on April 1, 2005. The film's success brought renewed attention to Miller's Sin City projects. Similarly,
22801-451: Was with Dawn of the Dead during an interview with actor Simon Pegg for Time Out . Romero said that although the remake could pass for a good action film, he felt it was aimless and "more of a video game" for that matter, as well as maintained he was "not terrified of things running at me". Numerous publications have named Dawn of the Dead as Zack Snyder's best film, with Den of Geek considering it his magnum opus . Revisiting
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