Dave Bautista Turned Down The Suicide Squad for Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead

Dave Bautista has confirmed that he had a role in The Suicide Squad, but says he gave it up to appear in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead film. Speaking with EW, the actor and WWE alumnus said that he was set for a role in the James Gunn-directed DCEU film but when he got more details on Snyder’s Netflix-bound zombie film, he became so enamored of it he gave up a part in The Suicide Squad to keep the lead role.

Bautista stars in the lead role in the zombie film, which centers on a man who recruits a group of mercenaries to pull off the ultimate heist amidst a zombie apocalypse. He noted that when he was originally approached he said no, but changed his mind when he read the script.

“I said I wasn’t interested,” Bautista said. “I had this chip on my shoulder and was looking for juicy [dramatic roles]. Then I read the script and it was a lot deeper and had more layers than I thought. And also, to be quite frank, I wanted to work with Zack.”

The film is written by Joby Harold and Shay Hatten from a story by Snyder and co-stars Omari Hardwick, Tig Notaro , Hiroyuki Sanada, Raul Castillo, Nora Arnezeder, Matthias Schweighöfer, Samantha Win, Rich Cetrone, and Garrett Dillahunt. The project is set to release via Netflix with a budget reportedly in the $70 million to $90 million range.