Rise of the Dead Saga

The Rise of the Dead Saga is a series created by Jack Hillebrecht and Ryan Woods. The series originally consisted of a main trilogy, made up of two feature films released in 2013 concluded in a short film released in 2019. The franchise was originally intended to be retired in 2019 after this point, but will be expanded upon in the form of spin-off short films starting to release in 2020. Woods developed the first two films with Hillebrecht in 2013, and his departure from the series brought about a six-year hiatus. Hillebrecht was solely responsible for the development of the third film and will direct the spinoffs going forward. It is currently the only series with new installments in active development.

Premise
The original trilogy follows the adventures of several adolescents as they survive the zombie apocalypse and uncover the antidote to the zombie plague. The spinoff short films are of a standalone nature and tell smaller-scale stories involving new and existing characters. Despite these spinoffs having an anthology structure, 2019's The Rise of the Dead will be the last film in the timeline.

Major Characters

 * Jack one of the two protagonists of Rise of the Dead and Rise of the Dead 2: Apocalypse. He is currently alive in a safe haven out west as indicated in The Rise of the Dead.
 * Ryan one of the two protagonists of Rise of the Dead and Rise of the Dead 2: Apocalypse. He also makes a cameo appearance in The Rise of the Dead. He is currently a zombie.
 * John the tertiary protagonist of Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead 2: Apocalypse, and The Rise of the Dead. He is deceased as of the final film.
 * The Guy With The Car is the main antagonist of Rise of the Dead and Rise of the Dead 2: Apocalypse, where he dies.
 * Annika is the main protagonist of The Rise of the Dead who inhabited the Safe house after it was abandoned in Rise of the Dead 2: Apocalypse. Her fate is unknown, but she is likely deceased or a zombie.
 * Alyssa is the main antagonist and secondary protagonist of The Rise of the Dead. She is currently alive and lives in the Safe house.

Original Trilogy (2013-2019)

 * Rise of the Dead
 * Rise of the Dead 2: Apocalypse
 * The Rise of the Dead

Spinoff Short Films (2020-)

 * The Only One That Really Mattered: A Rise of the Dead Short Film

Non-Canon

 * Rise of the Dead 2 1/2: A Very Zombie Christmas

Rise of the Dead
A boy named Ryan informs his friend Jack of a zombie invasion, and the two decide to set out to find a safer shelter. After several encounters with zombies, they find John and they continue their quest. They are soon captured by the mysterious Arthur Beansman Community. It is there Jack remembers a Safe house house with a nearly impenetrable security system owned by "Old Man Paranoid." After escaping, they decide to go find the house. On their travels, they are confronted by The Guy With The Car, but John throws a rock at him, sending him into a coma. The kids steal his car, and drive it to the house, only to find it surrounded by the zombies. After fighting them off, John tells Jack and Ryan to go inside the house, and that he will buy them time. Jack wakes up in the house, and Ryan tells him that they made it to the house and that John is missing. However, Ryan forgot to turn on the security system, and the house is soon attacked by zombies. Jack and Ryan fight them off, make it to the control panel, and activate the system. A bomb is triggered, but Jack and Ryan escape the blast radius. Once they are safe, the two vow to remember John and that they will continue the fight against the zombies. However, a zombie survived the blast, and continues to lurk about the house.

Rise of the Dead 2: Apocalypse
Jack throws a surprise party for Ryan, and while the two celebrate they realize that they can't hide forever, and that they it is their responsibility as survivors to try and help people. Jack later discovers a video that was streamed by Dr. George Gutter. Gutter explains that he played a part in creating the zombie virus, and that he was able to synthesize an antidote. He said he was trapped in his apartment, but he left the antidote and some research he had in his apartment, begging for the viewer to come find it. The two decide to set out the next day, and decide to have a going-away party. But the zombie who survived let other zombies in, and Jack and Ryan are forced to flee. Jack and Ryan set out in The Guy With The Car's car to find the antidote, and after several attacks by zombies, they meet The Guy With The Car, who has woken up from his coma. The Guy With The Car demands for the location of the Zombie antidote, but Jack drives away. Soon, Ryan realizes that they are being tailed by the Arthur Beansman community. They are captured, and while there soon realize that John is still alive, and was captured by the community. They then find out John is scheduled to be executed. Jack steals the cell key, and they rescue John and escape. They fill each other in, and the heroes drive over the George Washington Bridge, to get into New York City, where Gutter lived. But, The Guy With The Car blows the bridge and the car falls into the river. Jack and Ryan escape, but John is once again missing. Jack and Ryan camp for the night, and are attacked by zombies. The next day, they rob a grocery store and later run into John, who, without food turned into a "savage." However, John becomes himself again when he eats some of the stolen food. The heroes walk some more, and while camping for the night, Jack is attacked by an ABC Commando. However, Ryan kills the man. The next day, the heroes arrive at Gutter's apartment, only to find it still overrun by zombies. The heroes fight their way through, and when they make it to the top The Guy With The Car is waiting for them. John throws a paper "throwing knife" (an quick origami similar to a paper airplane) at The Guy With The Car. He stumbles into a window, and falls to his death. The heroes find the antidote, along with instructions to duplicate it. Jack says that with this, they now have a fighting chance at saving the world.

The Rise of the Dead
Six years have passed since Jack, Ryan, and John recovered the zombie antidote. The safe house they once hid out in is now inhabited by Annika, who has lived there in solitude for years. Annika lives off of honey, as the food that never expires. On May 23, 2019, a mortally wounded John returns to the house. He has been separated from Jack and Ryan for years, and has wandered alone with the zombie antidote. He gives the antidote to Annika to protect and he dies. After Annika buries John, she is attacked by a zombie named Alyssa. Alyssa bites Annika, and it is revealed that the thoughts of a zombie and victim are temporarily linked, and the two form a connection. Annika realizes that because Alyssa is still sentient, she killed intelligent beings when she fought off zombies. A hallucinated Alyssa soothes Annika's guilt and pleads with her to take the zombie antidote to cure her bite. Despite feeling unworthy to be the only person that will be saved by the antidote, she agrees to take the antidote. As she returns to take it, she witnesses Alyssa eating from her honey, and realizes that zombies can also survive off of honey. After realizing that Alyssa still has friends out there she can help (namely Ryan), and that Alyssa can share the knowledge that honey can be used to feed zombies, she sacrifices herself to cure her new friend. The next day, the cured Alyssa honors Annika and is confronted by Ryan, now a zombie. Alyssa offers Annika's container of honey to the zombie, hinting that perhaps zombies and humans can learn to live in peace.

Rise of the Dead 2 1/2: A Very Zombie Christmas
The heroes have been traveling for nearly two months with the zombie antidote, and now it is Christmas eve. A big snowstorm is coming, and the heroes hope to reach a new shelter; a Laboratory where they can start to replicate the zombie antidote. They make it, decide to rest easy. The next morning, Jack enters with a knife as a "present" for Ryan. Ryan kicks Jack, and Jack drops the knife. The Jack and Ryan decide not to wait for John, and open their Christmas presents. However, Ryan forgot to get something for Jack, so he pawns off the knife. A zombie runs in, and as it runs away it takes the backpack with the antidote with it. If the zombie gets outside, the antidote will be lost forever. So, Jack and Ryan chase after the zombie. But since their guns were in the backpack, Ryan uses an iPad box, and Jack the knife that was pawned off to him. After chasing down the zombie, Jack stabs it with the knife. Now that the antidote is safe, Jack and Ryan agree to enjoy their Christmas but the next day will start mass producing the antidote.

Cancelled Films
Originally, a much more ambitious slate of films in the series were planned, however all of them have been scrapped

Rise of the Dead 3: Endgame

 * This film was written, some footage even shot, but was ultimately scrapped. Plot details of what would have occurred will be posted here once they are revealed. However, the film will never be completed and a new film will and the series 

Spinoff series

 * As Rise of the Dead 3 began production, it was decided that Endgame would be the final Rise of the Dead film, but not the end of the continuity. A spinoff trilogy had already been greenlit, and would have featured Jack, Ryan, and John facing off against an army of robots, that were based off of the robotic portion of Arthur Beansman. This spinoff series was so close to being put into production that the ending of Endgame would have set it up. After this trilogy was done, plans were set for several independent films (more films in the same universe, but not part of a trilogy. Some ideas for these films had Jack, John and Ryan facing against Aliens, evil cults, and even monsters. More spinoff films not centered around the three protagonists were considered, such as a film based off several new characters, and their adventures throughout the zombie apocalypse, and an Arthur Beansman movie were also considered.
 * These spinoffs based on new characters would eventually go into production in 2020. The style and tone of the series had drastically changed from this original concept.

"The Adventures of John"
While not much about Rise of the Dead 3 would have been has been revealed at this time, it can be confirmed that similar to John's disappearances in the previous films due to him not showing up on set, would have been actually been scripted and have him having very little screen time. So, for a time, a spinoff featuring John's adventures during the main events of Rise of the Dead 3 was considered for production, but a script was never written and no details were ever determined, other than John would be the only main character. It was never confirmed for production, and will very likely never be with the cancellation of Rise of the Dead 3.

Arthur Beansman Solo Film
A Spinoff centered around the main villain of the series, Arthur Beansman, was considered. It would explain the early days of the apocalypse, and how Beansman fit into it.

Crossover
On the page of user LordStarscream100, a partner of the JTH Studios channel, (who signed on to do some additional editing for Endgame) a user by the name of sullyfilmsproduction left a comment suggesting a crossover between the Rise of the Dead series and LSS100's Jurassic Shark " Imagine...Rise of the Dead/Jurassic Shark! A crossover between Jurassic Shark a film series made by JTH Studios!﻿" both users entertained the idea, with LordStarscream saying "Man, that'd be pretty interesting. Zombies and flying robot sharks. That's quite an idea!﻿" and later "Lol, maybe we could make something out of it someday." While a crossover was never seriously considered for production, there were talks of including some kind of Easter Egg in Rise of the Dead 3 that could link the franchises.

LEGO Rise of the Dead
For a brief time, a short film told in LEGO based on Rise of the Dead was considered. It would have likely been a tie-in to Rise of the Dead 3, and also likely to not actually be canon. It would have featured an alternate beginning with "LEGO Humor" to Rise of the Dead 3. While a script was never written, some ideas included LEGO versions of the main characters rebuilding the Research Facility into a giant warship and use it to battle Arthur Beansman. However, with the cancellation of Rise of the Dead 3 it has been scrapped.

Trivia

 * This is the first feature JTH Studios produced.