WB taps van Heijningen for 'Dead'

Commercial director to helm zombie thriller

By MICHAEL FLEMING

Warner Bros. has signed commercial director and visual artist Matthijs van Heijningen to make his feature directing debut on "Army of the Dead," an action thriller that takes place in zombie-infested Las Vegas.

WB will co-finance the pic with Village Roadshow Pictures. Zack Snyder and Deborah Snyder produce under their WB-based Cruel & Unusual Films banner.

Script by Joby Harold (writer and director of "Awake") focuses on a father who tries to save his daughter from certain death in a zombie-ridden Sin City.

Van Heijningen is an ad director who is a multiple winner of Cannes Lions for commercials for advertisers including Toyota, Peugeot, Renault, Stella Artois, Pepsi and Bud Light. He has also directed several shorts.

Cruel & Unusual Films is in post-production on the Snyder-directed "Watchmen" for WB and is working on the animated film "Guardians of Ga'Hoole" and the action fantasy "Sucker Punch," which Snyder hatched and is writing with Steve Shibuya.