Much like its predecessor before it, World War Z 2 has encountered its fair share of production woes, after Juan Antonio Bayona’s abrupt departure forced Paramount to pull the apocalyptic sequel from its current release slate.
Prior to Bayona’s exit, World War Z 2 had been clutching on to the admittedly hopeful June 9th, 2017 release slot, which would have placed Paramount’s flesh-munching sequel on a collision course with The Mummy and horror pic It Comes at Night. Alas, that wasn’t to be. Creative setbacks aside, we are beginning to hear word that World War Z 2 is about to turn a corner, after the illustrious David Fincher (Gone Girl, The Social Network) was reportedly short-listed for the gig. Negotiations are still ongoing, it seems, though last we checked Fincher was reportedly keen to climb on board and was simply awaiting the go-ahead from Paramount.
There’s still nothing concrete to report just yet, but according to David Ellison, Skydance Media CEO and producer on World War Z 2, Fincher remains a priority target in the eyes of Paramount. Collider caught up with Ellison during SXSW 2017 where he was in town to promote Sony’s imminent sci-fi pic, Life. Amid talk of Mission: Impossible 6 and Tom Cruise’s year-long training regime, Ellison also touched base on World War Z 2 to confirm that a script is now in place, and all involved are seemingly pulling for David Fincher to sign along the dotted line.
“There’s a script that we’re incredibly happy with, and it’s just getting a couple of key deals closed… We hope [Fincher] makes the movie.”
Once slated for June 9th of this year, World War Z 2 is still on the hunt for both a release date and director. The latter is no doubt the priority for Paramount, and we’ll keep you posted as this story unfolds.