Latest news with #Zombies
South China Morning Post
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
My Daughter Is a Zombie movie review: hit Korean family comedy displays few signs of life
2/5 stars Advertisement Zombies have become so ubiquitous in recent years that their infectious reach extends well beyond the realm of horror cinema. Pil Gam-sung's hit comedy My Daughter Is a Zombie is a prime example of this phenomenon. Adapted from a bestselling webtoon, the film chronicles the efforts of a single father (Jo Jung-suk) to protect his daughter (Choi Yoo-ri) from extermination after she succumbs to a zombie virus. Rather than a horror movie, the film lurches wildly from broad comedy to cloying melodrama through a combination of larger-than-life characters and homespun family values. This crowd-pleasing combination has seen My Daughter Is a Zombie connect with an audience who might otherwise have avoided contact with the walking dead, and it currently stands as South Korea's most successful domestic release of 2025. Advertisement Jung-hwan (Jo) is a hard-working animal trainer at Seoul Zoo whose life is turned upside down when the city becomes consumed by a virulent zombie virus and his teenage daughter Soo-ah (Choi) is infected.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
They grew up Disney. Meg Donnelly and Kylie Cantrall are ready to take it from here.
The stars of "Zombies" and "Descendants" talk to Yahoo about what Disney stardom looks like in 2025. Disney Channel has long been a pop culture springboard, minting stars like Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Zendaya and the Jonas Brothers. But being a Disney star in 2025 looks different from the Hannah Montana and Camp Rock days. Back then, the formula was clear: Land a hit show or movie, make crossover appearances in other Disney projects, release music through the Disney machine and maintain a carefully curated, wholesome image. Global stardom came with perks, but being a young person navigating that world without a roadmap made for a high-stakes balancing act, especially in a culture quick to pick apart Disney stars. The lucky few, often backed by strong support systems, broke out beyond their early success. Today's Disney stars benefit from the legacy but face new hurdles. Thanks to social media, they're always on the clock — expected to perform, share and present perfection 24/7. They're brands within brands before they're old enough to drive. Kylie Cantrall, 20, and Meg Donnelly, 25 — who lead the network's biggest ongoing properties, Descendants and Zombies, both musical fantasy films — represent the modern blueprint for Disney stardom. They talk to Yahoo about growing up Disney, from dreaming about mouse-eared stardom as girls to movie- and music-making. But they're also pushing back against labels, steering their careers and trying to avoid the inevitable 'Disney star gone wild' headlines. 'Nobody really knows what I can do' Disney Channel was Donnelly's 'everything' growing up. A theater kid from New Jersey, she started auditioning for roles on the network at age 8. Being cast in the ABC sitcom American Housewife in 2016 opened the door to Disney. A year later, at age 15, she landed Zombies, after many auditions. The movie was an instant hit when it premiered in 2018, catapulting Donnelly to Disney stardom, powered by an army of tween fans. Zombies' hit soundtracks, with punchy pop anthems, have gone hand-in-hand with their success. 'Someday,' which Donnelly sang in the original film, has 109 million streams on Spotify. Fans who search for that may discover her original songs too. That includes her 2019 album Trust. 'When I was a kid, it was really hard for me to stand up for myself,' she tells Yahoo. 'A lot of the music I put out — even though it's still special to me, and I know a lot of people listen to it and they like it, so I'm not trying to discredit that at all — definitely wasn't 100% me.' Looking back, it felt like a bit of a runaway train. 'I definitely was doing what I thought I had to do, or listening to the people I thought I had to, because I was scared to speak up,' she says. 'I'm still learning how to do that. I'm not 100% good at that.' Feeling more in control, Donnelly released her new EP, Dying Art, in June, on the heels of showcasing her talent as the youngest finalist on The Masked Singer. She calls the project a 'stepping stone' to more ownership of her career. 'I did exactly what I felt comfortable with and what I wanted to put out there,' she says. 'It's a lot different than the music I put out in 2019, because … not that I know who I am now, but I really didn't know then.' While Donnelly is optimistic about her music career, figuring out what's next in acting has been trickier. The latest Zombies movie — another hit, drawing 9.3 million views on Disney+ in its first 10 days after its July 10 premiere — marked a turning point. She'll stay on as a producer for a potential Zombies 5 and make cameos if called on, but she's ready to let the next generation take the spotlight. Transitioning into post-Disney roles hasn't come automatically — and it's something she's still learning to navigate. 'With acting, it's a bit harder,' she says. 'In my own insecure brain, I'm like: 'People only know me as a Disney actress. They don't see the behind-the-scenes of all the [audition] tapes I'm sending in and the acting work I'm doing. No one's ever seen me act outside of kids' television or [the] sitcom world.' That gets in my head a lot. I think: 'Nobody really knows what I can do.'' She's working to show her broader range. Outside of Disney fare, Donnelly played the lead in the CW Supernatural spin-off The Winchesters, from 2022 to 2023. More recently, she was very close to landing the lead in the upcoming live-action Supergirl film, a part that went to Milly Alcock. Donnelly also struggles with the expectation of having to be on social media all the time. She calls it 'a really hard thing to navigate' and says 'it can be very isolating.' With 3.1 million TikTok followers and 2 million on Instagram, she's deeply aware of the role model label she carries, responsible to young fans still in single digits as well as adult women her own age. 'It's daunting, especially since the [Zombies] movies are still happening,' she says of the balance between role model and being a human being. 'I am always aware of my kiddos who are fans of Zombies and watching me, and whatever I post and do and say is taken to heart... My social media presence is a bit more sheltered than I would be in real life.' Donnelly, who lives with her Winchesters costar turned boyfriend Drake Rodger, says a lot of the pressure she feels actually comes from outside the Mouse House. The public wants to see Disney stars as one thing: kids. 'I feel like Disney never really puts people in a box — like these child actors are child actors forever — it's the public that tends to do that,' she says. 'No matter what I do — if I say a curse word or whatever — it's like 'Disney star goes wild' and that's just kind of the narrative until you end up being able to break out of it.' She adds, 'We're all gonna grow up. We're all gonna make mistakes… We're not going to be children forever.' Riding the Disney wave to pop stardom Cantrall started making YouTube videos of herself reviewing Disney shows at age 8 and, before long, she was appearing in the shows, including Gabby Duran & the Unsittables and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. 'I was always a Disney girl, practicing the wand ID in my room in front of my mirror at 5 years old,' she tells Yahoo. 'I looked up to Zendaya and Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus. I wanted to be that.' When Descendants stars Sofia Carson and Dove Cameron moved on in 2019 after successfully launching post-Disney careers, making movies and music, Cantrall was part of the new generation taking over. To land the lead in Descendants: The Rise of Red, she auditioned over Zoom for more than 40 Disney executives. When the film came out in July 2024, it drew a record-breaking 6.7 million views in three days on Disney+. For comparison, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert movie had 4.6 million views over the same period when it streamed that year. With a fifth film, Descendants: Wicked Wonderland, recently wrapped, Disney banked on Cantrall to headline the Descendants/Zombies: Worlds Collide tour this summer across 43 cities at venues like Madison Square Garden. Onstage, she performs not just Disney hits — like the title track 'Red,' which has drawn 58 million Spotify streams in one year — but also original songs from her debut EP, B.O.Y., which dropped in May. It's all a lead-up to her first full-length album, due next year — timed to maximize exposure around the next Descendants release. While Cantrall knows her Disney fan base is young, her ambition extends beyond that. 'Of course, a lot of little kids know me as Red,' she says, 'but it's cool seeing [the] siblings of those kids who are a bit older discovering me and my own personal music.' Cantrall is clearly aiming beyond the Disney bubble. While she embraces her role in Descendants — 'as long as they want to keep hiring me, I'll make I'll make myself available,' she says — she's focused on building a music career that also appeals to older teens and young adults. That's an audience she's steadily growing through her more mature songs and pop aesthetic — and she's not shy about where she wants that to go. 'Hopefully I'll go on the Kylie tour next,' she says, referring to her goal of headlining like fellow Disney alumnae Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter, who went from small screen to pop stardom. Unlike Donnelly, Cantrall's all in on social media. She has 8.2 million TikTok followers and 1.4 million Instagram followers and feels that showing them her day-to-day is a key way of connecting with her fans. 'The biggest difference between being a Disney star now vs. then is that we have social media, and [fans] can get to know us on such a deeper level,' says Cantrall, whose fandom even has a nickname: the QTs. 'I'm able to connect with so many people, [and] I think people … have gotten to know me.' Cantrall says she often thinks about that younger version of herself — the girl pretending to be onstage, now that she's performing for thousands. 'I get so emotional thinking about the little version of me,' she says. 'All I did was perform — dance and sing around my house — and that's all I've ever wanted to do. [Sometimes I imagine her sitting] in the crowd watching … me on stage. I think she would be so proud.'
Buzz Feed
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Quiz: Guess The Disney "Zombies" Movie From One Frame
Zombies is, without a doubt, one of the best Disney Channel movie franchises of the decade. Catchy songs, a cute love story, killer performances by Milo Manheim and Meg more could an undead fan ask for? Now that Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires (2025) is out, it's the perfect time to put your knowledge to the test. So, here's the sitch: below are a mix of images from Zombies (2018), Zombies 2 (2020), Zombies 3 (2022), and Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires (2025). Your job is to correctly select *which* Zombies movie each frame is from. Cool? Cool! Stream the Zombies movies on Disney+.
Buzz Feed
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Here's Why People Are Praising "Zombies 4"
If you're a millennial or elder Gen-Z, then you know what a HUGE deal Disney Channel movies were growing up. The Cheetah Girls, Gotta Kick It Up!, we had it ~so~ good. Aside from a few bright gems like the Descendants films, there haven't been a ton of memorable Disney Channel Original Movies in recent years. But we may be entering a DCOM renaissance. Everyone can't get enough of Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires, and I totally get why. The fourth installment in the Zombies franchise, which originally launched in 2018, follows Zed (Milo Manheim) and Addison (Meg Donnelly) as they embark on a summer road trip after their first year of college, only to find themselves caught in the middle of a high-stakes conflict between Daybreakers and Vampires. The cast also includes Kylee Russell (Eliza), Chandler Kinney (Willa), Malachi Barton (Victor), Freya Skye (Nova), Julian Lerner (Ray), Swayam Bhatia (Vera), Mekonnen Knife (Vargas), Lisa Chappell (Vampire Eldress), and Jonno Roberts (Commander Bright). Recently, Reddit user u/Illustrious-Term-539 kickstarted a convo about how Zombies 4 captures what made those OG Disney Channel movies so good in the first place: "I can't express how much I love this movie," they wrote. "[It's] what we have been missing for years now. It brought the magic of Disney Channel back. ... Disney Channel cannot stop making these movies. The new generation needs something to hold on to like we had years ago." A lot of people agreed and chimed in to offer their own thoughts on why Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires stands out: "It was INCREDIBLE. I absolutely loved it, and I totally agree about how important it was for the Disney Channel. I especially loved that when they sang 'Ain't No Doubt About It' this time, they didn't have the little 'I hope' or any other uncertainties. It was a beautiful moment." "I was about 18 or 19 when the first zombies came out, and it really had a lasting impact. Fast forward to now at 4 is here, and I may be past the ideal age, but I couldn't pass up watching it. It brought back nostalgia from when I was wrapping up my late teens/early adult years of my life. Seeing Milo and Meg pass the torch down to the next generation was so bittersweet and kind of sad to know its the end of an era, but its time for the next generation to take charge of these films. Between the Zombies films and the Descendants films, we were eating good, and I hope Disney continues to develop shows and movies like this for the next generation." "Having Eliza back really made Zombies 4 feel like a return, not just an imitation." "I LOVE every Zombies movie. I'm 42. My kids are 8 and 6. They watch these on repeat and I'm not mad. My daughter's last b-day was Zombies themed. I know the words to every song. ... They are great, wholesome movies teaching them about [accepting] differences." "I LOVE the fact [that they] did a rendition of the 'Someday' dance. I was really hoping for it!" "The movie wasn't perfect, but thats fine. It was better than I thought and actually cleared up a small plot hole about Zed's Z-band. There was some cringey dialogue, but hey, it's a Disney Channel movie, so that should be expected. Personally I enjoyed this more than Rise of Red. ... I think having Milo and Meg as executive producers helped [because] they literally spent their teen years doing this franchise." "I'm 27 and loved it. The songs are a vibe, the actors are SO cute, and it's a cheesy, feel-good vibe! I downloaded some of the album on my phone hahaha! I miss old Disney, and this took me back!" "I liked Zombies 4 more than D4 [Descendants: Rise of the Red], and I think it's because there was still consistency of the lead characters. I also thought the songs in Z4 were really catchy?? It felt like the best of the different movies combined in one. I thought Z3 was too similar to Z2, but Z4 felt different because they were passing the torch to new leads, and it was a whole new storyline." "I know MD and MM have said they want more behind the camera work too, but I (selfishly) hope that Zed and Addison aren't done with. Would be cool to see them older and (in the far future) having a family. I get I'm too old for Disney etc., but it's also kinda like Wizards and their passing of the torch." "In the lyrics to 'Possible,' Zed and Addison said to Victor and Nova that they are passing the torch. 'Ain't No Doubt About It' was a message to viewers that we'll be fine and everything is okay. Yes, the Zombies franchise is changing, but it will still be alright. Eliza and Willa waving weren't actually waving to Zed and Addison, it was their final wave goodbye. And the movie itself ended with Victor and Nova to show they are the two remaining and the franchise will be moving forward with THEM as the new 'Zed and Addison.'" What are your hopes for future Disney Channel movies? Tell us in the comments! Stream Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires on Disney+.
Yahoo
08-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
They grew up Disney. Meg Donnelly and Kylie Cantrall are ready to take it from here.
The stars of "Zombies" and "Descendants" talk to Yahoo about what Disney stardom looks like in 2025. Disney Channel has long been a pop culture springboard, minting stars like Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Zendaya and the Jonas Brothers. But being a Disney star in 2025 looks different from the Hannah Montana and Camp Rock days. Back then, the formula was clear: land a hit show or movie, make crossover appearances in other Disney projects, release music through the Disney machine and maintain a carefully curated, wholesome image. Global stardom came with perks, but being a young person navigating that world without a roadmap made for a high-stakes balancing act, especially in a culture quick to pick apart Disney stars. The lucky few, often backed by strong support systems, broke out beyond their early success. Today's Disney stars benefit from the legacy, but face new hurdles. Thanks to social media, they're always on the clock — expected to perform, share and present perfection 24/7. They're brands within brands before they're old enough to drive. Kylie Cantrall, 20, and Meg Donnelly, 25 — who lead the network's biggest ongoing properties, Descendants and Zombies, both musical fantasy films — represent the modern blueprint for Disney stardom. They talk to Yahoo about growing up Disney, from dreaming about mouse-eared stardom as girls to movie- and music-making. But they're also pushing back against labels, steering their careers and trying to avoid the inevitable 'Disney star gone wild' headlines. 'Nobody really knows what I can do' Disney Channel was Donnelly's 'everything' growing up. A theater kid from New Jersey, she started auditioning for roles on the network at age 8. Being cast in the ABC sitcom American Housewife in 2016 opened the door to Disney. A year later, at age 15, she landed Zombies after many auditions. The movie was an instant hit when it premiered in 2018, catapulting Donnelly to Disney stardom, powered by an army of tween fans. Zombies' hit soundtracks, with punchy pop anthems, have gone hand-in-hand with their success. 'Someday,' which Donnelly sang in the original film, has 109 million streams on Spotify. Fans who search for that may discover her original songs too. That includes her 2019 album, Trust. 'When I was a kid, it was really hard for me to stand up for myself,' she tells Yahoo. 'A lot of the music I put out — even though it's still special to me, and I know a lot of people listen to it and they like it, so I'm not trying to discredit that at all — definitely wasn't 100% me.' Looking back, it felt like a bit of a runaway train. 'I definitely was doing what I thought I had to do, or listening to the people I thought I had to, because I was scared to speak up,' she says. 'I'm still learning how to do that. I'm not 100% good at that.' Feeling more in control, Donnelly released her new EP, Dying Art, in June, on the heels of showcasing her talent as the youngest finalist on The Masked Singer. She calls the project a 'stepping stone' to more ownership of her career. 'I did exactly what I felt comfortable with and what I wanted to put out there,' she says. 'It's a lot different than the music I put out in 2019, because … not that I know who I am now, but I really didn't know then.' While Donnelly is optimistic about her music career, figuring out what's next in acting has been trickier. The latest Zombies movie — another hit, drawing 9.3 million views on Disney+ in its first 10 days after its July 10 premiere — marked a turning point. She'll stay on as a producer for a potential Zombies 5 and make cameos if called on, but she's ready to let the next generation take the spotlight. Transitioning into post-Disney roles hasn't come automatically — and it's something she's still learning to navigate. 'With acting, it's a bit harder,' she says. 'In my own insecure brain, I'm like: 'People only know me as a Disney actress. They don't see the behind-the-scenes of all the [audition] tapes I'm sending in and the acting work I'm doing. No one's ever seen me act outside of kids' television or [the] sitcom world.' That gets in my head a lot. I think: 'Nobody really knows what I can do.'' She's working to show her broader range. Outside of Disney fare, Donnelly also played the lead in the CW Supernatural spin-off, The Winchesters, from 2022 to 2023. More recently, she was very close to landing the lead in the upcoming live-action Supergirl film, a part that went to Milly Alcock. Donnelly also struggles with the expectation of 'having to be on social media all the time. She calls it 'a really hard thing to navigate' and says 'it can be very isolating.' With 3.1 million TikTok followers and 2 million on Instagram, she's deeply aware of the role model label she carries, responsible to young fans still in single digits as well as adult women her own age. 'It's daunting, especially since the [Zombies] movies are still happening,' she says of the balance between role model and being a human being. 'I am always aware of my kiddos who are fans of Zombies and watching me and whatever I post and do and say is taken to heart… My social media presence is a bit more sheltered than I would be in real life.' Donnelly, who lives with her The Winchesters costar turned boyfriend Drake Roger, says a lot of the pressure she feels actually comes from outside the Mouse House. The public wants to see Disney stars as one thing: kids. 'I feel like Disney never really puts people in a box — like these child actors are child actors forever — it's the public that tends to do that,' she says. 'No matter what I do — if I say a curse word or whatever — it's like 'Disney star goes wild' and that's just kind of the narrative until you end up being able to break out of it.' She adds, 'We're all gonna grow up. We're all gonna make mistakes… We're not going to be children forever.' Riding the Disney wave to pop stardom Cantrall started reviewing Disney shows on YouTube at age 8 and, before long, she was appearing in them, including Gabby Duran & The Unsittables and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. 'I was always a Disney girl, practicing the wand ID in my room in front of my mirror at 5 years old,' she tells Yahoo. 'I looked up to Zendaya and Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus. I wanted to be that.' When Descendants stars Sofia Carson and Dove Cameron and moved on in 2019 after successfully launching post-Disney careers, making movies and music, Cantrall was part of the new generation taking over. To land the lead in Descendants: The Rise of Red, she auditioned over Zoom for more than 40 Disney executives. When the film came out in July 2024, it drew a record-breaking 6.7 million views in three days on Disney+. For comparison, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert movie had 4.6 million views over the same period when it streamed that year. With a fifth film, Descendants: Wicked Wonderland, recently wrapped, Disney banked on Cantrall to headline the 'Descendants/Zombies: Worlds Collide' tour this summer across 43 cities at venues like Madison Square Garden. Onstage, she performs not just Disney hits — like the title track 'Red,' which has drawn 58 million Spotify streams in one year — but original songs from her debut EP, B.O.Y., which dropped in May. It's all a lead-up to her first full-length album, due next year — timed to maximize exposure around the next Descendants release. While Cantrall knows her Disney fan base is young, her ambition extends beyond that. 'Of course, a lot of little kids know me as Red,' she says, 'but it's cool seeing [the] siblings of those kids who are a bit older discovering me and my own personal music.' Cantrall is clearly aiming beyond the Disney bubble. While she embraces her role in Descendants — 'as long as they want to keep hiring me, I'll make I'll make myself available,' she says — she's focused on building a music career that also appeals to older teens and young adults. That's an audience she's steadily growing through her more mature songs and pop aesthetic — and she's not shy about where she wants that to go. 'Hopefully I'll go on the Kylie tour next,' she says, referring to her goal of headlining like fellow Disney alumnae Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter, who went from small screen to pop stardom. Unlike Donnelly, Cantrall's all in on social media. She has 8.2 million TikTok followers and 1.4 million Instagram followers and feels that showing them her day-to-day is a key way of connecting with her fans. 'The biggest difference between being a Disney star now vs. then is that we have social media, and [fans] can get to know us on such a deeper level,' says Cantrall, whose fandom even has a nickname: the QTs. 'I'm able to connect with so many people, [and] I think people … have gotten to know me.' Cantrall says she often thinks about that younger version of herself — the girl pretending to be on stage, now that she's performing for thousands. 'I get so emotional thinking about the little version of me,' she says. 'All I did was perform — dance and sing around my house — and that's all I've ever wanted to do. [Sometimes I imagine her sitting] in the crowd watching … me on stage. I think she would be so proud.' Solve the daily Crossword
