What happens in Las Vegas comes to Blackpool for Netflix promotion of new zombie blockbuster Army of the Dead

Teaming up with resort graffiti artist Christian Fenn – aka Seca One – production crews dropped a shipping container on Blackpool Promenade to replicate a zombie escape.

Tagged with slogans from the flick, directed by Dawn of the Dead and Man of Steel’s Zack Synder and starring Dave Bautista and Ella Purnell, the container was said to once house the dead – before they clambered out.

The invasion will begin on the Comedy Carpet between 11am and 5pm on Saturday May and Sunday.

Christian, helped by fellow resort artist Graham ‘Moz’ Morriss, said: “We had two hours to get the design completed. We started early doors and the rain was washing the paint down the sides. It was madness; typical lovely Blackpool weather.

“Luckily I had Moz to help get it all done and work on all the lettering but it’s great to be involved as local artists.

“We could have gone heavy on the zombies and the gore but we wanted to bring more of a Vegas slant and, yeah, we smashed it in the end.”

Snyder, who also produced Army of the Dead, which is available to stream from tomorrow May 21, said: “It’s a charred, weathered husk of a broken world.”

The film was 10 years in the making – after Snyder got the idea after finishing his Dawn of the Dead remake.

“I had so much fun with the genre and it just really got it in my head that I should try to push even further,” Synder said.

“So I started thinking about scenarios that would be interesting to me, like a mission-based concept. I knew I wanted the zombie plague to be contained, so I had this idea of building a wall around Las Vegas and the rest grew out of that.”

Critics have so far praised the film, which has been certified ‘fresh’ by review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, with average scores of 74 per cent from professional critics and 79 per cent from audiences.

“Snyder shoots with a blockbuster strut and plots like a 14-year-old raiding their parents’ drinks cabinet,” the Financial Times said.