It might not be obvious, but Paramount's "World War Z" suffered through production hell, and had to endure extensive reshoots and deal with a lot of issues on set. Josh Trank's rebooted "Fantastic Four" went through the same thing, but the similarities ended there. Whereas "Fantastic Four" flopped, "World War Z" definitely delivered and even gave a truly satisfying ending - so much so that a sequel is already in the works.
Paramount and lead star Brad Pitt have signed on "The Impossible" director Juan Antonio Bayona to helm the film, with a screenplay written by Steven Knight, best known for his work in "Locke" and "Eastern Promises."
Both Pitt and Bayona actually have prior commitments, according to Collider, since Bayona will be working on "A Monster Calls" first while Pitt has other engagements to attend to. Paramount has scheduled June 9, 2017 as the sequel's release so they are probably going to start production next year.
As for Knight, the creative genius has actually turned in a draft of the "World War Z" sequel already, and he is now sharing how it came about. One of the things he appreciates about the sequel was that he was given a blank state and free reign to write what he wants.
"I was approached with the idea of, 'How do we move this along?' So who could resist?" he said.
He also gushed what he appreciates about the first film: "I think the beauty of the first film was the way that it never paused for breath. It never spent a moment thinking, 'Hang on a minute, we'd better tell the audience what this is all about.' It stayed in the moment, it stayed with that person," he said.
Since he is a fan of how the first film was executed, it's highly likely that he will be employing the same thing for his sequel.
"World War Z" was released in 2013, and was directed by Marc Forster. The screenplay was written by Matthew Michael Carnahan, Drew Goddard, and Damon Lindelof with a screen story by Carnahan and J. Michael Straczynski. It is based on the 2006 novel of the same name written by Max Brooks.
Pitt starred in the movie as Gerry Lane, a former United Nations investigator who is forced to travel the world in order to find a cure to the zombie pandemic. It also starred Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale, and David Morse.
