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Zachary Edward Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American filmmaker. After starting his career primarily directing music videos, he made his feature film debut in 2004 with Dawn of the Dead, a remake of the 1978 horror film of the same name. Since then, he has directed or produced a number of comic book and superhero films, including 300 (2006) and Watchmen (2009), as well as the Superman film that started the DC Extended Universe, Man of Steel (2013), and its follow-ups, (2016) and Justice League (2017), the latter of which had a director's cut released in 2021.
Aside from comic adaptation, he also directed the animated film (2010), the psychological action film Sucker Punch (2011), the zombie film heist film Army of the Dead (2021), and the two-parter space opera Rebel Moon (2023) and (2024).
In 2004, he founded the production company The Stone Quarry (formerly known as Cruel and Unusual Films) alongside his wife Deborah Snyder and producing partner Wesley Coller.
Snyder was raised as a Christian Scientist, and attended a summer camp in Harrison, Maine, run by the church.
He studied painting a year after high school at Heatherley School of Fine Art in England, although he had already begun filmmaking. Back in high school, Snyder struggled due to his dyslexia and made his first film there with the camera his mother bought him, using it to make an unflattering commentary about his school's administration that got him expelled. Afterward, Snyder attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. His classmates included fellow future Hollywood directors Michael Bay and Tarsem Singh. Despite being Indian, Singh also played a Nazi in a short film by Snyder. He graduated with a BFA in film in 1989.
The production notes for Snyder's first film Dawn of the Dead describes Snyder as "a comic book and horror film enthusiast in his youth".
Snyder made his feature film debut with the remake of the horror film Dawn of the Dead (2004), and scored a box office hit with the fantasy war film 300 (2006), adapted from writer-artist Frank Miller's Dark Horse Comics miniseries of the same name. His Warner Bros. film Watchmen was released on March 6, 2009, and grossed $185 million worldwide. His follow-up project/animation debut, , was released on September 24, 2010. Snyder produced, co-wrote, and directed Sucker Punch, which was released on March 25, 2011. The film, based on a script written by Snyder and Steve Shibuya, was about a young woman in a mental hospital who fantasizes of escape with her fellow inmates.
He directed 2013's Man of Steel for Warner Bros., a reboot of the Superman franchise and the jumpstart to the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) and produced the prequel/sequel to 300, (2014).
During Comic Con 2013, Snyder announced that Batman and Superman would share the screen in , released in 2016. Snyder directed, Cavill reprised his role as Superman, and Ben Affleck played Batman. Snyder directed Warner Bros.' 2017 Justice League, but he exited during post-production to deal with the death of his daughter, Autumn Snyder. His replacement was Joss Whedon.
On January 29, 2019, Snyder announced that he had signed on to helm Army of the Dead, a zombie heist thriller, for Netflix. Snyder directed and produced the film with his partner and wife, Deborah Snyder, via their newly rebranded production company, The Stone Quarry. His agreement with Netflix has since expanded into several Army of the Dead projects; Army of Thieves, a prequel released in 2021, and Planet of the Dead, a sequel to be created.
On May 20, 2020, Snyder announced that Zack Snyder's Justice League would be released on the streaming service HBO Max in 2021. The film was released on March 18, 2021, dedicated to the memory of his daughter Autumn.
In July 2021, Snyder was officially announced to be developing the film Rebel Moon for Netflix. It was inspired by Star Wars and the films of Akira Kurosawa. Filming began in April 2022 and lasted until November that year, with the project being developed as a two-part film. Snyder also produced and directed two episodes of Twilight of the Gods, an anime-style web series inspired by Norse mythology, for Netflix.
Following Rebel Moon, Snyder will return to direct Planet of the Dead, a sequel to Army of the Dead. He also signed a first-look deal with Netflix.
In May 2021, it was reported that Snyder had been developing Horse Latitudes, a film about two war photographers since 2011, although the project was on hold while he works at Netflix. After a period of relative silence on the film, he mentioned to DC Cinematic Cast on September 13, 2024, that Horse Latitudes had found an investor. In August 2025, it's been retitled to The Last Photograph with Stuart Martin and Fra Fee joining the cast.
Snyder held the television rights to an adaptation of Black Kiss, a late-1980s comic by Howard Chaykin. Snyder wrote the pilot, but could not find any takers.
In June 2021, Snyder expressed interest in directing a science fiction film adaptation of the Adult Swim cartoon series Rick and Morty, feeling that such a film would be the closest project he could tackle to make a comedy film.
In a November 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Snyder stated that while he no longer had any interest in tackling superhero comic book adaptations in light of the DCEU continuity's conclusion with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, he only consider returning for the DC Universe if James Gunn invited him back to direct a faithful adaptation of Miller's The Dark Knight Returns comic book. Gunn himself consulted Snyder about the looks of David Corenswet's Superman suit for Superman.
, Snyder is set to direct a new feature action film for Netflix, centered around the Los Angeles Police Department, co-writing the script with frequent collaborator Kurt Johnstad.
Blood and Ashes would have been the third film set in the world of 300. Snyder and Johnstad wrote the movie during the COVID-19 pandemic on request from Warner Bros, but Warner did not pick the project up. What started as the final piece of a trilogy became its own story as it developed, separate from the main plot of the franchise, but part of the same world. The film would have been a love story about Alexander the Great's relationship with Hephaestion during a time of war. It likely would have been a loose adaptation of the Alexander the Great segments from Frank Miller's graphic novel Xerxes. In 2023, the Stone Quarry gained the movie rights from Warner Bros.
In April 2025, it was reported that Snyder would be directing the film titled Brawler, a film about the UFC, with the involvement from Turki Al-Sheikh and Dana White. Snyder will write the screenplay alongside Shay Hatten and Kurt Johnstad.
Snyder said
The Netflix production Army of the Dead was a special project for Snyder as he served as his own cinematographer, as well as this being his first film shot digitally.
Snyder has eight children: two biological children and two adopted daughters with Weber, two biological sons from a relationship with Kirsten Elin, and two adopted children with Johnson. The suicide of his daughter Autumn prompted Snyder to withdraw from post-production work on Justice League in May 2017 to be with his family, which resulted in Joss Whedon completing the film in his place.
In another effort to help with suicide prevention, Snyder included a billboard for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention with the message "You are not alone" in a scene in Zack Snyder's Justice League. The film features other tributes to his late daughter.
Snyder directed two PSAs for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in 2018.
In 2021, Snyder partnered with Save the Children, a global child rights organization, to build a 100-bed temporary hospital facility in New Delhi to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
As writer and/or producer only
Acting credits
Oscar-winner director James Cameron, in an interview given to Comic Book Debate about the filmmakers that have at times influenced him, mentioned that the work Snyder did on 300 was pretty revolutionary at the time and introduced a new "cinematic language", along with the names of Robert Rodriguez and Ridley Scott. Christopher Nolan, one of the most awarded directors of the 21st century, pointed Snyder's work as a contemporary influency on science fiction and Superhero film movies, stating that "There's no superhero science-fiction film coming out these days where (he) don't see some influence of Zack". He also emphasized the emotional power that is very characteristic of Snyder's filmography: "When you watch a Zack Snyder film, you see and feel his love for the potential of cinema. The potential of it to be fantastical, to be heightened in its reality, but to move you and to excite you."
Nolan is particularly fond of two of Snyder's films: Man of Steel and Watchmen. With regard to the former, he singled it out for its dramatic impact, highlighted by a scene about fatherhood between Clark and Jonathan Kent: "The moment in Man of Steel where Kevin Costner tells young Clark that whatever his origin, he's still his son puts a lump in my throat every time." In Watchmen, its emphasis is on the avant-garde element of the work in the genre of superhero films, especially films dealing with groups of heroes and their complex interactions: "I've always believed Watchmen was ahead of its time. The idea of a superhero team, which it so brilliantly subverts, wasn't yet a thing in movies. It would have been fascinating to see it released post-Avengers."
Snyder is also recognized by his strong visual storytelling. In a commentary about his horror-remake Dawn of the Dead, Stephen King, one of the most notable writers of horror novels of all time, described his movie as "scary" and "perfectly crafted", especially its opening sequence: "Genius perfected would be Zack Snyder's 2004 Dawn of remake, which begins with one of the best opening sequences of a horror film ever made."
However, his best-known work came to be Zack Snyder's Justice League, the result of a huge grassroots campaign for the release of the director's version of Justice League, which fell victim to a series of alterations after the director stepped down following the death of his daughter. Renowned directors and filmmakers such as Hideo Kojima, the Russo Brothers, David Lowery, Kevin Smith and Ben Affleck expressed their support for the director's cut. It was responsible for turning Snyder into a pop culture phenomenon, generating several references in the industry for its enormous adherence to the director's cuts.
In addition to his work as a director, Snyder also stands out for writing scripts and stories for many films he directs or only produces, with a special mention for Wonder Woman, named one of the 10 best films of 2017 by the American Film Institute.
He is also one of the highest-grossing film directors of all time, being in the top 40 of the worldwide ranking.
Filmmaking
Style
Snyder often uses slow motion, particularly the technique of speed ramping, in and out of the fight scenes in his films. This differs from other directors who make multiple cuts and close-ups during a fight. A minute-long shot from 300 shows King Leonidas slaughtering his enemies, the camera zooming in and out to emphasize each kill and move Leonidas makes.
Reception
Snyder has been described as one of the most polarizing directors of modern cinema. David Ehrlich of IndieWire wrote that Snyder's "name alone is enough to launch a thousand angry tweets, and the most passionate writing about his work is exclusively found in the comment sections of websites like this one. Snyder's critics really seem to hate him, and Snyder's fans really seem to hate his critics ... Is Snyder a master or a hack? A misunderstood myth-maker, or a meathead with a movie camera?" Film critic Armond White listed Snyder as one of the four best filmmakers of the 2010s. Director James Cameron praised Snyder, listing him as one of the filmmakers who created their own "cinematic language".
Personal life
In 2009, Snyder listed Excalibur, Mad Max 2, A Clockwork Orange, Blue Velvet, and RoboCop as his five favorite films.
Family
Snyder lives in Pasadena, California with his second wife, producer Deborah Snyder. The couple first met in 1996, began dating in 2002, and married on September 25, 2004, at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Manhattan, New York. He was previously married to Denise Weber.
Philanthropy
Following his daughter's suicide, Snyder became involved in philanthropic activities directed towards suicide prevention and mental health awareness. Snyder promoted this effort on social media by selling clothing and merchandise related to the Snyder Cut; in May 2021, it was revealed that this effort had raised more than $750,000 in charitable donations to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Political views
Although his films have been critiqued as having "right-wing" messages, politically, Snyder is a Democrat. He endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. In a 2021 interview with The Guardian, he stated:
Filmography
Feature films
2004 Dawn of the Dead 2006 300 Co-wrote with Kurt Johnstad and Michael B. Gordon 2009 Watchmen 2010 2011 Sucker Punch Co-wrote with Steve Shibuya 2013 Man of Steel 2016 2017 Justice League Co-wrote story with Chris Terrio 2021 Zack Snyder's Justice League Co-wrote story with Chris Terrio and Will Beall Army of the Dead Co-wrote with Shay Hatten and Joby Harold 2023 Co-wrote with Kurt Johnstad and Shay Hatten 2024 TBA Filming +Key Denotes films that have not yet been released 2014 Co-wrote with Kurt Johnstad 2016 Suicide Squad Also directed the Flash cameo shot 2017 Wonder Woman Co-wrote story with Allan Heinberg and Jason Fuchs 2018 Aquaman 2020 Wonder Woman 1984 2021 The Suicide Squad Army of Thieves Co-wrote story with Shay Hatten
Short films
1990 Playground Direct-to-video documentary 2004 2009 Tales of the Black Freighter Direct-to-video Under the Hood 2013 Superman 75th Anniversary Co-wrote story with Bruce Timm 2017 Snow Steam Iron Shot on a mobile phone
Music videos
1989 Lizzy Borden "Love Is a Crime" 1992 Peter Murphy "You're So Close" Morrissey "Tomorrow" Soul Asylum "Somebody to Shove" 1993 "Black Gold" Alexander O'Neal "In the Middle" Paul Westerberg "World Class Fad" 1994 ZZ Top "World of Swirl" Dionne Farris "I Know" 1995 Rod Stewart "Leave Virginia Alone" 2009 My Chemical Romance "Desolation Row"
Television
2024 Twilight of the Gods Directed 2 episodes;
Co-created with Jay Oliva and Eric Carrasco2022 Teen Titans Go! Himself Episode "365" 2025 The Studio Episode "The Golden Globes" Rick and Morty Episode "Ricker than Fiction"
Awards and nominations
Snyder's body of work has earned him a number of awards, including two and a Gold Lion Award for his Jeep "Frisbee" commercial. He also won the Society of British Advertisers Award for Humor for his controversial Elbrewery commercial "General's Party."
Recognition
Despite his cinematic vision giving rise to polarized opinions, Zack Snyder is strongly recognized for bringing a very influential cinematic language to mainstream Hollywood from the 2000s onwards, notable for adopting a high level of visual refinement, epic stories and films with deconstructivist and political narratives, which is reflected in the existence of several films with a large scale of production and long duration, such as Zack Snyder's Justice League.
Notes
External links
Categories: 1966 Births, Living People, American Action Film Directors, American Advertising Directors, American Christian Scientists, American Male Screenwriters, American Music Video Directors, Connecticut Democrats, Film Directors From Connecticut, Film Directors From Wisconsin, Film Producers From Wisconsin, Film Producers From Connecticut, Hugo Award–winning Writers, American Male Feminists, American Feminists, People From Green Bay, Wisconsin, People From Riverside, Connecticut, American Science Fiction Film Directors, Screenwriters From Connecticut, Screenwriters From Wisconsin, Writers From Greenwich, Connecticut
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