NEED TO KNOW
- Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly and Chandler Kinney talk with PEOPLE exclusively about filming the fourth film in the Disney Channel franchise
- Manheim and Donnelly, who also serve as executive producers on the project, said it felt like a final “goodbye” for their beloved characters, Zed and Addison
- Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires releases on Disney Channel on July 10, 2025, and the next day, July 11, 2025, on Disney+
The original Zombies cast is passing on the torch.
More than seven years after the first Disney Channel original movie debuted in February 2018, the franchise is back with its fourth film, Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires.
Though a handful of familiar faces make an appearance in the movie, including Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, Chandler Kinney and Kylee Russell, the film loosely serves as a revamp for the franchise as a whole new set of characters and creatures are introduced.
For stars Manheim and Donnelly, who also serve as executive producers on the project, they tell PEOPLE the film felt like a final “goodbye” for their beloved characters Zed and Addison.
In fact, they admit that they initially thought the third film would be their last hurrah, so coming back for one more film was a welcome surprise.
“On Zombies 3, I sobbed and mourned, then cried,” Donnelly recalls of the high emotions she felt while watching the 2022 film. “I genuinely thought that was the last time we were doing a Zombies movie. So I feel like I kind of closed that chapter in my mind.”
“This was a whole new experience of me being so excited, feeling all of the feelings that the kids felt,” she says of filming Zombies 4. “It was more so being an older sister or a mom. When we wrapped, I was just watching all the kids and seeing them cry and react. It was almost more like I’m just so excited for them. I definitely cried, for sure, but it was more so of just everything that we’ve been through personally, like Meg and Milo, not necessarily Zombies.”
MALACHI BARTON, MEG DONNELLY, MILO MANHEIM, Freya Skye.
Disney/Matt Klitscher
Manheim echoes that same sentiment, admitting that the most emotional part of wrapping this film was getting to watch the next generation of stars carry on the legacy of the franchise.
“Casting these kids, knowing that we were passing this torch on, every moment that we spent with them, it just became clearer and clearer that they are the right ones to carry on the legacy of this franchise,” he says.
Though he notes that the ending does feel quite resolved for his and Donnelly’s characters, they aren’t going anywhere any time soon, at least behind the scenes.
“I am here to aid the Zombies universe however that may be,” he says. “Me and Meg will absolutely be a part of this franchise in its entire existence moving forward, at least behind the camera. But we’ll see where the story takes us. But it is a very nice goodbye.”
For Kinney, who joined the franchise in the second film, she says it was incredibly nostalgic watching all the new actors step into their roles as they said goodbye to theirs.
“I remember the first time that we sat down altogether for the first ever time at the dinner table, and both Meg and I got a bit teary eyed just watching the kids talk about their days and rehearsals and seeing all of the exact same emotions that we experienced joining this crazy adventure,” she recalls. “The nerves, the excitement, the curiosity of how it’s all going to unfold, and us kind of being a further bit down that path and knowing what’s in store for them. It brought up so much and we’re so excited for them.”
KYLEE RUSSELL, CHANDLER KINNEY.
Disney/Matt Klitscher
Reflecting on her early days joining the franchise, she notes that the films really helped her find her footing as a young actor.
“[It] was the most perfect environment just to explore and experiment and learn and make mistakes,” she says. “It always felt like summer camp. Summer camp is the place where you go and you learn about yourself and you try new things for the first time and you meet people that you form really close, intense bonds with. So I think that is the perfect metaphor for going away to film these movies. Every time I feel like I’ve come out changed and changed for the better.”
“I carry so many of the tools that I think I’ve been able to acquire and sharpen on these sets to all future projects,” she says. “I’m just so grateful. I really got so lucky. I think joining this family at such a young age, at a time when also outside of my craft, I’m figuring out who I am. I was 18 and I’m about to turn 25 and so it’s very pivotal just to grow up around the best people doing the thing I love most was truly a dream come true.”
KYLEE RUSSELL, MILO MANHEIM, MEG DONNELLY, CHANDLER KINNEY.
Disney/Matt Klitscher
Through their respective journeys in the franchise, Manheim, Donnelly and Kinney have all learned important life lessons along the way, too.
For Manheim and Donnelly, they’ve leaned on each other through their rise to fame. “We grew up doing these movies together, so we’ve seen each other in so many phases of our life,” Donnelly admits. Something I’ve definitely learned from Milo is you have a very positive outlook on everything, and you ask people so many questions and make people feel so seen. I feel like you always inspire me to just be conversational and make people feel more seen. Going through this whole process together, there’s a part of me that nobody else will understand but Milo.”
Kinney adds that her character has helped her step into her own as an actress. “Willa is such a fierce, fabulous, self-assured, unapologetically herself character,” she says of the outspoken werewolf. “[Playing her] demanded so much of me. It was a challenge and I had to really dig to find those characteristics. That’s something that I carry with me on future projects, but also just as a person trusting myself, standing up for myself, advocating for myself and those that I love most.”
Malachi Barton, Freya Skye, Meg Donnelly and Milo Manheim.
VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty
Ultimately, as the Zombies franchise continues to grow and expand, Manheim hopes the films will continue to remind people of the importance of coming together.
“I think that both the message of this movie and the fun of this movie are at an all-time high,” he says of the fourth film. ”We really get to how fear can really drive you to do the wrong things. We always talk about this being a good movie to watch at a younger age because you need the reminders of accepting others and not changing yourself to be accepted. But I think in this world, we all could use that reminder. It’s kind of a movie about how love is very powerful and how sometimes just because it’s a rule doesn’t mean it’s right. So I think it’s a very empowering one and will inspire anybody at any age.”
Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires releases on Disney Channel on July 10, 2025, and the next day, July 11, 2025, on Disney+.