Even though Dave Bautista publicly backed his Guardians of the Galaxy director and friend James Gunn and campaigned to join The Suicide Squad, ultimately he ended up starring in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead. What’s up with that? He’s actually talked about this before, and said it was simply that Snyder was offering a bigger and better role. But now in a conversation with Digital Spy, Bautista adds one more reason why he chose Snyder…
That sweet sweet Netflix cash. Cash money, baby!
“I was all up for it, and then I got ‘Army of the Dead,’ which was not only a lead role for me, but also I really wanted to work with Zack Snyder,” explained Bautista. “I’ve been wanting to work with him for years…I had ‘The Suicide Squad’ where I got to work with my boy again, even though it’s a smaller role, and then I had ‘Army of the Dead’ on which I get to work with Zack, I get to build a relationship with Netflix, I get a lead role in a great film – and I get paid a lot more money.”
Bautista says he wanted to be upfront with Gunn about it, them being good friends, and he said the director totally got it…
“I had to call James, and I told him, ‘It breaks my heart because as a friend, I want to be there with you, but professionally, this is the smart decision for me.’ He said, ‘I completely get it. I’m proud of you that you’re even in this position. I’m proud that I had something to do with you being in this position where you have to make these hard decisions.’”
And that’s cool. Even if Guardians of the Galaxy 3 turns out to be the last Marvel film for both Bautista and Gunn, it’s almost a certainty they’ll work together again.
Army of the Dead opens in select theaters on May 14th, then Netflix a week later.
