Disney has greenlit Zombies 5 for Disney+ and Disney Channel, bringing back fan-favorite characters and introducing a new threat to Rayburn: mermaids.
Malachi Barton and Freya Skye return as Victor and Nova, with Trevor Tordjman back as cheer captain Bucky. Franchise stars Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly — the leads of the original trilogy — will executive produce the fifth installment. Production begins this spring in New Zealand. An official title has not yet been announced.
New Plot: Mermaids Come to Rayburn
Following the events of ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires, the peace between the Daywalkers and Vampires gets disrupted when a band of fierce mermaids arrives in Rayburn. The mermaids cast a persuasive siren song to lure new allies, forcing Nova and Victor to unite their groups once more to discover what the mermaids are really after — and protect the harmony they worked to build.
Returning and New Cast
The returning cast includes Malachi Barton as Victor, Freya Skye as Nova, Swayam Bhatia as Vera, Julian Lerner as Ray, and Mekonnen Knife as Vargas.
Three new mermaids join the franchise:
- Diaana Babnicova as cool-girl Pearl
- Taylor Oliver as bad-boy Fin
- Olive Mortimer as tech-wiz Sandy
Emily Costtrici also joins as zombie Izzy, Zed’s zombie cousin and a new transfer student at Seabrook High.
Creative Team Returns
DGA Award-winner Paul Hoen, who has directed the entire ZOMBIES franchise, returns as director and executive producer. Executive producers Jane Fleming, Mark Ordesky, Joseph Raso, and David Light are also back, along with producer Skot Bright. Choreography is handled by Dondraico Johnson, with an original score by Tom Howe. Writers Chris Hazzard, Michael Fontana, and Eydie Faye are new to the creative team.
“ZOMBIES has become a defining franchise for the current generation. With each movie, we intentionally push the story somewhere new. Introducing mermaids in ZOMBIES 5 opens up a completely different dynamic, while staying true to the music, characters and themes of unity and acceptance that are at the heart of these films.”
— Ayo Davis, President, Disney Branded TelevisionFranchise by the Numbers
The ZOMBIES franchise has become one of Disney Channel’s most successful original movie franchises. Cable telecasts for the first three films ranked No. 1 among Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14 in their premiere years. The franchise has generated 385 million hours watched across linear and streaming in the U.S. ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires pulled 9.3 million views globally in its first nine days on Disney+ and reached 43 million views in under six months.
The announcement comes as 2026 marks milestone anniversaries for Disney Channel franchises including High School Musical and Hannah Montana, with Descendants: Wicked Wonderland and Camp Rock 3 set to premiere this summer on Disney+.
All previous ZOMBIES films and ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series are now streaming on Disney+.
Source: The Walt Disney Company
