Army of the Dead star Dave Bautista to lead new sci-fi adventure movie Universe’s Most Wanted

Dave Bautista in Army of the Dead. — (Image credit: Netflix)

TXfilms has picked up a new sci-fi adventure starring Army of the Dead’s Dave Bautista, Universe’s Most Wanted, which is currently in pre-production and scheduled to begin shooting in Melbourne, Australia, in late July.

The Guardians of the Galaxy star is no stranger to aliens or space, so it already sounds like the perfect movie for him. Universe’s Most Wanted centers on a small town that gets a big surprise when a spaceship carrying the universe’s most wanted and dangerous criminals crash lands in their backyard. A sheriff and his son become heroes when they find themselves helping an intergalactic peacekeeper (Bautista) to keep the ragtag group of alien prisoners from escaping and taking over the world.

Universe’s Most Wanted will be directed by Rampage and San Andreas director Brad Peyton with a screenplay by Jimmy Loweree and xXx: Return of Xander Cage writer F. Scott Frazier. There is currently no information on who Bautista’s co-stars are in the movie.

The sci-fi adventure is just one of many action-packed projects lined up for Dave Bautista. Army of the Dead has the actor going up against zombie tigers and Elvis impersonators. Directed by Zack Snyder, it also stars Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, Theo Rossi, Matthias Schweighöfer, Nora Arnezeder, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tig Notaro, Raúl Castillo, Huma Qureshi, and Garret Dillahunt.

An official trailer for the action-horror movie features Bautista leading a group of mercenaries in a heist on a Las Vegas casino during a zombie outbreak. Army of the Dead has been described by the SnyderCut director as "a full-blown, balls-to-the-wall zombie heist movie" and is scheduled to be released in select theaters and on Netflix on May 21, 2021.

Stephanie is a comic book historian and pop culture critic for publications including SYFYFANGRRLS, Marvel, The A.V. Club, Nerdist, Den of Geek, and Rotten Tomatoes. Stephanie is also a comic creator with three ongoing webcomics, Parenthood Activate!, But What If Though?, and Living Heroes. She made her Marvel debut with a short story featuring Monica Rambeau in Marvel’s Voices: Legacy. She recently made her DC Comics debut in Wonder Woman Black and Gold #2 and is co-writing the Nubia and the Amazons miniseries.