By Zach Johnson
Ain’t no doubt about it… more ZOMBIES is on the way!
During the 2024 Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in Pasadena, California, Saturday, Ayo Davis, President of Disney Branded Television, announced that ZOMBIES 4 (working title) has been greenlit. Production will begin next month in New Zealand, with Meg Donnelly and Milo Manheim set to reprise their respective roles as Addison and Zed, Seabrook’s star-crossed zombie/cheerleader couple. The actors will also executive produce.
ZOMBIES 4 (working title) will follow Zed and Addison as they embark on a road trip the summer after their first year of college. As adventures unfold, they unexpectedly discover the warring worlds of Sunnyside and Shadyside and come into contact with two new groups of monsters. Cast members Chandler Kinney and Kylee Russell will return as werewolf Willa and loveable zombie Eliza, respectively. Newcomer Freya Skye and Disney Channel star Malachi Barton will play new characters Nova and Victor, respectively—mysterious supernatural strangers whom Zed and Addison encounter during their summer travels.
DGA Award-winner Paul Hoen, director of all three ZOMBIES films and a record-setting 16 Disney Channel Original Movies, will helm ZOMBIES 4 (working title). The movie is written by David Light and Joseph Raso and Josh Cagan. In addition to Manheim and Donnelly, the executive producers include Hoen, Light, Raso, Jane Fleming, and Mark Ordesky. Mahita P. Simpson is a co-executive producer on ZOMBIES 4 (working title), which is a production of Bloor Street Productions. The movie’s brand extensions will include a cross-category product line of apparel, accessories, costumes, and fashion dolls by Mattel, and much more.
Additionally, Davis announced that ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series, the franchise’s first-ever animated series, will premiere in the summer of 2024 on Disney Channel and Disney+.
One of Disney Branded Television’s most successful franchises, the premiere telecasts of all three ZOMBIES films ranked No. 1 among Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14 when they debuted (2018, 2020, 2022) and have logged 253 million hours watched across linear and streaming since launch. Additionally, the films’ music has amassed over 2.7 billion streams across YouTube Music, Disney Channel YouTube, and Disney Music Vevo—while soundtracks for ZOMBIES and ZOMBIES 3 hit No. 1 on the Billboard Top Kid Albums chart.