Original-Cin Q&A: Zombie Heistmeister Zack Snyder and Scream-King Matthias Schweighöfer Talk Up Army of Thieves
One of the most-watched original Netflix films, Zack Snyder’s zombie-heist film Army of the Dead was bound to rise again.
Hence this week’s prequel. Army of Thieves is a romantic comedy with a reprised heist theme, directed by Matthias Schweighöfer from a screenplay by Shay Hatten, based on a story he wrote with Snyder.
Set six years before the events of Army of the Dead, this prequel sets up the beginning of the zombie outbreak and focuses on Ludwig Dieter in his early days of safecracking. He is hired by a mysterious woman to pull off a heist with the help of a misfit crew of aspiring thieves.
Director/star Matthias Schweighöfer reprises his role of the high-strung safecracker Ludwig Dieter
The film stars Schweighöfer, who reprises his role as Dieter, alongside a supporting cast that includes Nathalie Emmanuel, Guz Khan, Ruby O. Fee and Stuart Martin.
Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with Zack Snyder and Matthias Schweighoefer about working on the film and making safecracking sexy.
Army of Thieves starts streaming on Netflix on October 29th, just in time for Halloween.
CLICK HERE to watch Bonnie’s interview with stars Nathalie Emmanuel & Ruby O Fee
CLICK HERE to watch Bonnie’s interview with Stuart Matin & Guz Khan
ORIGINAL-CIN: Who doesn't love a good back-story? Zack, was this something that was already in your mind before you shot Army of the Dead, or did it come to you during or after the shoot?
ZACK SNYDER: I had the idea while we were shooting, and it was conceived on the weekends when we were on our breaks. We did have the general idea that we wanted to find out how this gang of thieves found each other and how Ludwig came to be.
As we got deeper into Army of the Dead, we felt that Matthais’s character Ludwig was something really special, and knew we needed to focus on this amazing character. We just started writing and it ended up being more in English than we originally planned. So it just worked out.
But really, quite frankly, it is an International film because there's French and German spoken and we shot in some beautiful countries. It has the look and feel of a Bond movie.
PROUDLY SUPPORTS ORIGINAL-CIN
O-C: Matthias, First of all, you're bloody adorable in this movie and you made safe-cracking sexy. I’ve just got to put that out there.
MATTHIAS SCHWEIGHOEFER: Why thank you!
O-C: What did you learn from working with Zack Snyder on Army of the Dead that you took with you to direct Army of Thieves?
SCHWEIGHOEFER: So much. Always go 150 percent, create the hell out of it and try to find something that is new, exciting and fresh. I try to find the little sparks in the film, so that it keeps you in this creative space. You can create your fantasy and that's what I tried to do.
O-C: You are no stranger to directing. You have directed many German films, but of course in your native tongue. Did this create a challenge for you in any way, seeing how you were both the star and director and most of your dialogue was in English?
SCHWEIGHOEFER: I love the daily business, but to be on a film set, there is nothing like it. I'm allowed to play, and when you're allowed to play, you can do everything.
I loved acting and directing at the same time. To me it’s like, it's like a holiday. So, were there any challenges? Sure, plenty. But I love to direct and act at the same time. It's cool. You can create, you're in charge. But you can still go crazy and try whatever you want.
O-C: Zack, how did you know that Matthias would handle this material so well? What ultimately impressed you about him?
SNYDER: He did a great job and I was super impressed. I liked the tone of the movie, and as many people know, I'm obsessed with it.
The tone in this movie is consistent and clean for the entire thing. That to me is the real trick and I think that's what I was blown away by, just how kind of how consistent and how comfortable I was in that world and you never get knocked out of it.
O-C: Matthias, Ludwig has such a unique scream. Was that initially improvised or was it in the script?
SCHWEIGHOEFER: The scream originated with the character in Army of the Dead. I knew that it was something he had to do in this film, not only to make it consistent, but it added so much depth to who he was.
I was always a huge fan of Chris Tucker, in particular his work in The Fifth Element. There’s a scene when he was under this table and they were shooting at the tavern and he started to scream. I fell in love with his screaming, So when we started shooting Army of the Dead I just knew Ludwig had to have a crazy scream.
It’s funny, I will never forget this because, in the script of Army of the Dead at one point, it distinctly said, “From here on all the characters have to whisper because they don’t want to wake the zombies.” But at the moment when I started to scream with this high pitch, Zack looked at me and said, “Okay, I'll take it.”
O-C: So, if you had to break into your hotel safe because you forgot the passcode, could you do it?
SNYDER: Only with a crowbar.
SCHWEIGHOEFER: I think it would take years for me to crack a hotel room safe, but I think it would look sexy.