A fifth “Zombies” movie has been greenlit at Disney Channel and Disney+, but franchise stars Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly are not returning to their roles of Zed and Addison.
“Zombies 5” will instead be led by Malachi Barton and Freya Skye, who will reprise their roles as Victor and Nova from “Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires.” Both Manheim and Donnelly remain onboard the franchise as executive producers.
In addition, Trevor Tordjman will return as Bucky, with the other returning cast including Swayam Bhatia as Vera, Julian Lerner as Ray, and Mekonnen Knife as Vargas. New additions will include a trio of mermaids played by Diaana Babnicova as Pearl, Taylor Oliver as Fin, and Olive Mortimer as Sandy. Emily Costtrici joins the cast as zombie Izzy, described as “Zed’s zombie cousin and new transfer student.”
Production will begin this spring in New Zealand.
“‘Zombies’ has become a defining franchise for the current generation,” said Ayo Davis, president of Disney Branded Television. “With each movie, we intentionally push the story somewhere new. Introducing mermaids in ‘Zombies 5’ opens up a completely different dynamic, while staying true to the music, characters and themes of unity and acceptance that are at the heart of these films.”
The official logline for “Zombies 5” states, “The newfound peace between the Daywalkers and Vampires is put to the test when a band of fierce mermaids arrives in Rayburn, making waves and casting a persuasive siren song to lure in new allies. Nova and Victor must unite their groups once more to discover what the mermaids are really after in order to protect the fragile harmony they worked so hard to build.”
Paul Hoen will return to once again direct and executive produce, with Hoen having directed every film in the franchise to date. Along with Manheim and Donnelly, executive producers are Jane Fleming, Mark Ordesky, Joseph Raso and David Light. Skot Bright will produce, with choreography by Dondraico Johnson and an original score composed by Tom Howe. Chris Hazzard, Michael Fontana and Eydie Faye are all joining the fifth film as writers.
The “Zombies” films have become a major franchise for Disney Channel Original Movies. The first three films have all been major ratings and streaming hits, while the fourth film drew 9.3 million views globally in its first nine days streaming, rising to 43 million views in less than six months, per Disney streaming data.
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