Perhaps the highest-profile zombie movie to come out within the past decade would be 2013’s World War Z. Inspired by the Max Brooks book of the same name, the film starred Brad Pitt as a man faced with surviving the zombie apocalypse. The movie was a hit and seemed ripe for a sequel, and Paramount had plans to produce one, but now it looks like that’s no longer the case.
Variety reports that Paramount has officially shut down pre-production on World War Z 2, because the project couldn’t reach the budget it required. While still in the early stages, the plan was for David Fincher to direct with Pitt reprising his role from the first film. Production would have begun by the summer of this year, and the casting process was set to begin soon. With the studio pulling the plug, all work on the planned sequel will now cease.
It’s still possible production could resume at some point in the future. Maybe some script revisions could bring down the projected budget for the film, prompting Paramount to give it the green light. However, as more time passes since the release of the first movie, seeing the sequel actually happen seems less and less likely. This was the closest it has ever gotten to becoming a reality, and Paramount nixing it now feels a lot like the final nail in the coffin.
You can watch the trailer for the original film below.
Synopsis: When former U.N. investigator Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) and his family get stuck in urban gridlock, he senses that it’s no ordinary traffic jam. His suspicions are confirmed when, suddenly, the city erupts into chaos. A lethal virus, spread through a single bite, is turning healthy people into something vicious, unthinking and feral. As the pandemic threatens to consume humanity, Gerry leads a worldwide search to find the source of the infection and, with luck, a way to halt its spread.
