A zombie movie franchise is currently dominating the streaming charts for Disney+, and it’s more than likely one you wouldn’t expect. The Disney Channel’s Zombies movie franchise is currently occupying the top four spots of Disney+’s Top 5. The Zombie movies have been massively popular among young audiences since the first movie premiered on February 16, 2018. The premiere earned 2.57 million viewers with a 0.46 rating for the all-too-important 18-49 demographic, enough to kickstart a new franchise for Disney. The most recent sequel, Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires, was released this past Thursday and has already climbed the charts on Disney+ to beat out Marvel Studios’ recently released, Ironheart.
In first place is the newest release Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires, followed by the very first film, Zombies in second. In third is Zombies 2, and in fourth is Zombies 3, with Marvel Studios’ Ironheart coming in fifth place. The series was designed as a new franchise for younger audiences, akin to the Descendents franchise, and quickly became a hit due to its fun storyline and catchy musical numbers. While Disney has not yet officially announced a fifth Zombies film, the franchise’s continued success would suggest it is probable.
Disney’s Zombies franchise stars Milo Manheim (School Spirits) as Zed and Meg Donnelly (The Winchesters) as Addison. It centers around high school students and how they are forced to work together when students from Zombietown are transferred to their school in a suburban town that is known for uniformity, traditions, and pep rallies. The first film was actually based on a pilot by David Light and Joseph Raso that never aired titled Zombies & Cheerleaders that starred both Manheim and Donnelly.
The second film continues to focus on the franchise’s main couple, Addison and Zed, and their budding romance, which is threatened by the introduction of werewolves. Zombies 3 takes things even further as the zombies, humans, and werewolves have to work together to try and stop an alien invasion. While Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires shakes up the franchise yet again by introducing vampires to the fantastical series. Interestingly, this marks the first film in the franchise that takes the characters out of the school setting, bringing them on a road trip, where they encounter a new problem: Daywalkers and Vampires.
Although a fifth installment has not been formally announced, the ending of Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires seems to set up another installment and the possible introduction of a water element. This could mean the introduction of mermaids, yet another fantastical creature that could make sense within the world of Zombies. It’s unclear exactly how mermaids — or some other water creature — would impact the vampires, werewolves or zombies, but it’s a logical way for the franchise to continue to expand and thrive.
All four Zombie movies are now available to stream exclusively on Disney+. As of now, a fifth movie has not yet officially been announced by Disney. With the franchise continuing to dominate on Disney+, though, that could very well change sooner rather than later. Fans can also check out Zombies: The Re-Animated Series now on Disney+.
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