A fifth installment of the hit Zombies movie franchise has been greenlit at Disney+ and Disney Channel, with Zombies 4‘s Malachi Barton and Freya Skye set as Victor and Nova. Franchise stars Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly are not returning as Zed and Addison, but will be back as executive producers. Additionally. Trevor Tordjman returns as Bucky, the beloved cheer captain and cousin of Addison from the original trilogy.
The film begins production this spring in New Zealand. An official title will be announced at a later date.
Following the events of Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires, the newfound peace between the Daywalkers and Vampires is put to the test when a band of fierce mermaids arrives in Rayburn, making waves and casting a persuasive siren song to lure in new allies. Nova and Victor must unite their groups once more to discover what the mermaids are really after in order to protect the fragile harmony they worked so hard to build.
The returning cast also includes Zombies 4‘s Swayam Bhatia as Vera, Julian Lerner as Ray, and Mekonnen Knife as Vargas. New to the franchise are a trio of mysterious mermaids: Diaana Babnicova as cool-girl Pearl, Taylor Oliver as bad-boy Fin, and Olive Mortimer as tech-wiz Sandy. Emily Costtrici joins the cast as zombie Izzy, Zed’s zombie cousin and new transfer student.
Zombies franchise director and executive producer Paul Hoen will return for the latest installment. Also returning are executive producers Jane Fleming, Mark Ordesky, Joseph Raso and David Light and producer Skot Bright, alongside Manheim and Donnelly. Disney says the movie will feature next-level dance sequences, choreographed by Dondraico Johnson, and an original score composed by Tom Howe. Joining the creative team are writers Chris Hazzard, Michael Fontana and Eydie Faye.
The Zombies franchise has become one of the most popular Disney Channel Original Movie franchises, with cable telecasts for the first three films ranking No. 1 among Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14 in their premiere years, per Nielsen, and garnering 385 million-hours watched across linear and streaming in the U.S. (including series and shorts). The summer 2024 premiere of Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires garnered 9.3 million views globally in its first nine days streaming, amassing 43 million views in less than 6 months.