World War Z was one of the most troubled productions in recent movie history, but it managed to do very well at the box office all things considered. In fact, despite all the turmoil Z went through, there’s currently a director attached for the sequel, which was rumored to have been in the works for some time.
Variety tells us that Juan Anotnio Bayona, who also directed The Impossible, a drama about a tsunami, and The Orphanage, a horror film produced by Guillermo Del Toro, is aboard to direct the next zombie epic, which has David Ellison producing. (Ellison is the son of Larry Ellison, who has produced a number of big tent-pole pictures for Paramount.)
Brad Pitt will be back starring and producing the film at Paramount, even though his production company, Plan B, is moving on to another studio, New Regency. No writers have been selected to pen the next installment of Z, but if winds up like the first one, they may end up going through quite a few writers before the movie wraps. (Don’t forget, the third act of the movie had to be redone from scratch.)
So even though World War Z dodged a major bullet and didn’t wind up on the box office scrapheap with The Lone Ranger, should Brad Pitt and company still push their luck for another go around? Zombies are still going strong with the Walking Dead, but will they still have any life left in them when the next World War Z movie is finally ready? Good questions, and we at TGD will be watching developments closely.
