Zack Snyder spent ‘a few million’ replacing Chris D’Elia in ‘Army of the Dead’

Netflix spent at least “a few million” dollars to reshoot Chris D’Elia’s ‘Army of the Dead’ role in the wake of the many sexual misconduct accusations made against him, according to filmmakers Zack and Deborah Snyder.

In a Vanity Fair interview, the Snyders spoke about their decision to replace D’Elia with Tig Notaro for the film’s helicopter pilot role.

Director Zack Snyder said that the decision to recast D’Elia’s part was “a fairly easy one,” though his wife, producer Deborah Snyder, acknowledged that it was also “an expensive one.”

“It was like the cost of our little German movie,” added Deborah, referring to ‘Army of Thieves’, the rom-com themed prequel which Netflix will release as a follow-up to ‘Army of the Dead’. An animated movie in the same universe will also be released.

The millions spent by Netflix went toward the digital erasure of D’Elia from footage, as well as reshoots with Notaro last September, and visual effects work that would seamlessly integrate her into scenes, opposite her co-stars.

Reshoots were also complicated because Notaro is a cancer survivor, which put her at increased risk of complications if infected with the coronavirus, which ultimately meant her scenes were shot without any of her fellow cast members being involved..

D’Elia was first accused in June 2020, after finishing his work on the film but in the midst of the monthslong shutdown of Hollywood in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. In August, Netflix announced that comedian Notaro would be taking his place, with all scenes of D’Elia digitally scrubbed.

D’Elia denies any wrongdoing.

‘Army of the Dead’ is available to stream on Netflix now.