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Residents walking past 88th Street and York Avenue this week may have noticed new signage tacked to lampposts and building facades — the familiar neon-colored notices that tend to precede a wave of trailers, equipment trucks, and crew members descending on a quiet residential block.
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According to notices posted in the neighborhood, a production crew is scheduled to shoot scenes on Wednesday at the intersection, which could mean temporary parking restrictions and a general upending of the usual Yorkville routine for at least part of the day.The project in question is “Zero Protocol,” a feature film that has been quietly generating buzz in the movie trades over the past year. The film stars Rebecca Hall — whose recent credits include the MonsterVerse blockbusters “Godzilla vs. Kong” and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” as well as the indie horror hit “The Night House” — in the lead role.
Hall plays an NYPD commissioner tasked with locking down Manhattan during a rapidly escalating citywide crisis. The twist: her teenage daughter is trapped inside the quarantine zone. If the synopsis sounds like it might involve zombies, that’s because it does. The film is being marketed as a zombie-action horror, a genre that has seen a resurgence in recent years thanks to projects like “28 Years Later” and the continued afterlife of “The Last of Us.”
Behind the camera is director Debs Paterson, who previously directed episodes of the Paramount+ series “Halo,” Disney’s “Willow,” and MGM+’s “Domina.” The screenplay comes from Dan Hall, who wrote last year’s thriller “The Silent Hour,” according to Screen Daily, which first reported Hall’s attachment to the project.
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The film is being produced by Imaginarium Productions, the company founded by actor-director Andy Serkis — best known for his motion-capture performances as Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings” and Caesar in the rebooted “Planet of the Apes” trilogy — and producer Jonathan Cavendish, whose recent credits include “Venom: Let There Be Carnage.” Financing is being handled by Anton, which also launched international sales on the project at this year’s Cannes market.Production on “Zero Protocol” had been anticipated to begin in late 2025, and the York Avenue shoot appears to be part of that shooting schedule now underway in New York.
A release date for the film has not yet been announced.
Neighbors on 88th Street can expect the usual film-shoot footprint on Wednesday: production vehicles, signage reserving curb space, and crew members directing foot traffic. If history is any guide, there may also be a brief thrill of spotting a famous face between takes.
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