Focus Features has debuted the first official trailer and poster for the latest Jim Jarmusch film titled The Dead Don’t Die, a new zombie thriller from the acclaimed filmmaker. The film reunites Jarmusch with some of his biggest collaborators, including Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, and Bill Murray.
Driver, Murray, and Chloë Sevigny (Zodiac) star as local police officers who have to chop their way through a wave of the undead. The film also stars Selena Gomez (Hotel Transylvania), Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs), Austin Butler (The Intruders), Danny Glover (Saw), Caleb Landry Jones (Get Out), Carol Kane (The Princess Bride), Rosie Perez (Birds of Prey), Iggy Pop, Sara Driver, RZA, and Tom Waits.
Check out the first trailer for The Dead Don’t Die below:
Jarmusch has riffed on genres before. Throughout his career, he’s taken on popular film with his signature deadpan dialogue and traditional staging, most notably with the 2013 vampire film Only Lovers Left Alive and the 1999 mob-meets-ninja mashup, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. Judging from the trailer, The Dead Don’t Die looks to be in keeping with his style. This trailer almost feels like a huge prank. The fact that this trailer dropped on April Fools’ Day is going to have a lot of people wondering if Jarmusch is just playing a huge joke on us, and that this film might not actually exist. Well, no. It is most certainly is coming out.
Not much is known about the film, including its actual plot. Even the stars of the film are hush-hush on the matter. In an interview with IndieWire, Murray went on record saying Jarmusch has “written a zombie script that’s so hilarious.” Further plot specifics are remaining under wraps, although it’s very clear that Jarmusch has assembled his most star-studded ensemble cast to date. He previously worked with Adam Driver in 2016’s Paterson, Bill Murray in 2005’s Broken Flowers, and Tilda Swinton in 2014’s Only Lovers Left Alive.
When The Dead Don’t Die hits theaters in mid June it’ll be going head-to-head against Sony’s Men in Black: International, from director F. Gary Gray and starring Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, and New Line Cinema’s Shaft, from director Tim Story and starring Jessie Usher, Samuel L. Jackson, and Richard Roundtree. It’s some tough competition, also genre movies that tout comedic elements. However, Jarmusch is a staple of art house cinema, and the film should find a niche among both genre aficionados and those looking for something to see at their local indie theater. Before then, The Dead Don’t Die is expected to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, but nothing has been announced yet.
Focus Features also released the film’s kitschy-inducing poster, which looks like it’s right out of a VHS rack at a video store in the 90s. Check it out below:
The Dead Don’t Die is set to be released on June 14.
Source: Focus Feature