Though it was never specified in the movie, the character of Glen (R.D. Reid) supposedly died of a broken neck.
Some of the video clips in the opening credits were actual stock news footage, such as the scene of a truck driving into a crowd of people.
One of the clothing stores in the mall is named "Gaylen Ross". Gaylen Ross played the part of Fran in the original Dawn of the Dead (1978).
Zack Snyder said that the reason his zombies run at full speed is because he wanted to avoid the inherent comic impression given by slow, shuffling undead.
Zack Snyder's directorial debut.
Some of the camera crew would wear plastic sheeting during the filming of some of the gorier scenes, due to the amount of fake blood flying around.
Nathan Fillion auditioned for the role of Michael.
When Ving Rhames heard of a remake of Dawn of the Dead (1978) was in production, he tracked down producers to be in the film.
Director Zack Snyder personally chose most of the music used in the film. His choices included "The Man Comes Around" by Johnny Cash, and Richard Cheese's cover of Disturbed's "Down With the Sickness". Snyder was the only person who thought these songs should be in the film, as most of the producers were against it.
Visible in Luda's room is a can of something called "Smeat" - a takeoff on Spam. Smeat had previously appeared in Waterworld (1995). The Smeat can here is circular, however - in Waterworld, the cans were rectangular, like Spam cans.
Members of Rue-Morgue Magazine, a Canadian-based publication had cameos as zombies in the film.
The cause of the dead returning to life is not completely explained in the film. On the back of the DVD box, it is said to be a virus.
A lot of the actors playing zombies were carrying remotes in their hand to discharge a blood cannon placed on their back. This would activate an explosion of blood behind them, to simulate the effect of a gunshot to the head.
Zack Snyder: a member of a commando unit (with shades holding an assault weapon) in front of the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. This scene can be seen during the opening credits montage of video/news clips of zombie attacks.
40 minutes shorter than George A. Romero's original director's cut for Dawn of the Dead (1978).
The first scene in the basement finishes when Michael burns the zombies with fuel from the gas station and CJ's lighter. This is a reference to a similar scene in George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968).
The group in the mall had named the two parking shuttles; the first one, holding Nicole, CJ, Michael, and Ana was named The Pinta, the one carrying Terry, Kenneth, Steve, Glen and Monica was named The Santa Maria.
David Cronenberg's sister, Denise Cronenberg, was the costume designer on this film.
For the graphic scene in which Monica is accidentally chainsawed to death, a full body cast was made of actress Kim Poirier which included a reloadable cartridge down the area that was to be chainsawed. This was then packed solid with bloodbags. This meant that the cartridge could be taken out and reloaded for each take.
One of the most gruesome "zombies" (the bloated woman killed with a fireplace poker) was actually played by a man.
Universal significantly slashed the film's budget after the failure of House of the Dead (2003), fearing there was no public appetite for zombie movies.
Ving Rhames was always first choice for the part of Kenneth.
The music playing in the mall when the survivors first arrive is a variation of Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry Be Happy".
The word "zombie" is never used in the film. However, the unrated, Special Edition DVD contains the word in the back-cover text describing the film's plotline.