2013’s World War Z might’ve ended up as a commercial success, but it had a hell of a bumpy ride along the way, with its lengthy production consisting of extensive reshoots and script re-writes. But that’s nothing compared to its sequel, World War Z 2, which has been in development for three years now with no signs of ever moving into full production.
Paramount had originally pegged a release date of June 9th, 2017, but that (and then director J.A. Bayona) came and went. Then, David Fincher was attached to direct and the film hit the brakes even harder as he focussed on his (excellent) Netflix series Mindhunter.
But now it seems like the sequel’s finally heading before the cameras, as producers Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner spoke to Variety recently and explained the following:
“We’re starting to shoot in June. What more do you need to know? Brad Pitt is Gerry Lane. He’s back. David Fincher’s directing.”
Don’t pop the champagne just yet, though, as Kleiner added that the script hasn’t been finalized, saying:
“Dennis Kelly, an incredible writer, [who] wrote Utopia, Matilda, we’re working on a bunch of stuff with him. We’re still working on the script but he’s done an amazing job. We think it’s gonna be great.”
If this actually does end up shooting, it’ll presumably hit cinemas in summer 2020. With the last film ending with Pitt’s character discovering a vaccine against the zombie virus that camouflages survivors battling the undead, there’s still some hope for humanity’s future, and presumably, the sequel will kick off from there.
Personally, I wasn’t a huge fan of World War Z, but I am interested in a blockbuster filmed by David Fincher that reunites him with Brad Pitt, so I hope that they finally manage to get all their ducks in a row and shift this one into gear sooner rather than later.