Sequel To Highest Grossing Zombie Movie Could Finally Be in the Works 12 Years After Original Release

World War Z, the 2013 zombie action movie starring Brad Pitt, was a big hit when it hit theaters. Directed by Marc Forster and written by Matthew Michael Carnahan, Drew Goddard, and Damon Lindelof, the film is based on Max Brooks’ 2006 novel of the same name.

Pitt plays Gerry Lane, a former United Nations investigator who travels the globe trying to stop a sudden zombie outbreak. Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, and Matthew Fox also appear in supporting roles.

The movie premiered in London on June 2, 2013, and critics generally liked it. Many praised Brad Pitt’s performance and said the film helped revive the zombie genre. Some critics, however, thought the ending was anti-climactic and not true to the book.

Despite that, the movie was a huge commercial success, earning over $540 million worldwide on a $190 million budget, making it the highest-grossing zombie movie of all time.

Now, after Paramount merged with Skydance, CEO David Ellison has mentioned World War Z as one of the studio’s key properties. This shows that the franchise could still get a second life, along with a focus on original stories like the Timothée Chalamet and James Mangold project High Side.

A sequel was announced shortly after the first film’s release, but it faced a long road of delays. In January 2012, it was reported that Marc Forster and Paramount saw World War Z as the start of a trilogy.

They wanted it to mix the realistic, action style of the Jason Bourne movies with the apocalyptic tone of AMC’s The Walking Dead. Production issues slowed plans for sequels, but after the first movie’s success, Paramount said they would move forward with a second film.

J. A. Bayona was chosen to direct in December 2013, and Steven Knight was hired to write the script in May 2014. The sequel was originally set to release on June 9, 2017. By January 2016, Bayona had left due to other commitments.

Later, in 2016, David Fincher entered talks to direct the movie, and by April 2017, he was close to signing on. Paramount confirmed him as director in June 2017, with Brad Pitt set to return as Gerry Lane. Filming was planned to start in fall 2018 but was delayed because Fincher was busy with the TV series Mindhunter. In October 2018, producer Dede Gardner said filming would begin in June 2019 across five countries.

However, in February 2019, the sequel was officially canceled. A source told The Hollywood Reporter that “the Chinese government’s ban on films featuring zombies or ghosts was the single major reason” the project was pulled.

World War Z fans might finally have a chance to see Brad Pitt back in the fight against zombies.

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