Straight from the writer of the film, there’s no question that 2004’s Dawn of the Dead had no survivors.
A loose remake of George A. Romero’s iconic zombie film, Dawn of the Dead was directed by Zack Snyder and written by James Gunn. It introduced an ensemble cast of characters holed up in a shopping mall in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, and the remaining survivors make a grand escape in the end by boarding a yacht. The story ends with camcorder footage revealing the group to be attacked upon reaching a zombie-filled island, and while things weren’t looking good, their fate was left unclear.
Now, two decades after the film’s release, Dawn of the Dead screenwriter has cleared the air about the fate of the characters of the film. On his Threads account, Gunn was directly asked by a fan what happened to the survivors of Dawn of the Dead, referring to the slightly ambiguous ending. In response, Gunn simply replied, “What survivors?”
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Unfortunately, this strongly implies that Ana (Sarah Polley), Kenneth (Ving Rhames), Nicole (Lindy Booth), Terry (Kevin Zegers), and Nicole’s dog, Chips, did not survive the onslaught at the island alluded to in the camcorder footage. Rest in peace.
Dawn of the Dead also starred Jake Weber, Michael Kelly, Ty Burrell, R. D. Reid, Kim Poirier, Boyd Banks, Mekhi Phifer, and Bruce Bohne. The film featured cameo appearances from original Dawn of the Dead stars as well, including Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, and Tom Savini.
Meanwhile, James Gunn has since moved on from writing about the undead to building an all-new slate of movies and TV shows alongside Peter Safran for DC Studios. He is currently in production on Superman, the first movie of the DCU, which is set to hit theaters in 2025.
James Gunn and Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead is currently streaming on Netflix.
