Brad Pitt’s WORLD WAR Z Sequel is Finally Moving Forward With Director Edward Berger

It’s kind of crazy that we’re actually talking about a World War Zsequel moving forward again. After more than a decade of false starts, abandoned plans, and years where it seemed like the sequel might never happen, Brad Pittis officially returning and Paramount has tapped Edward Berger to direct.

I’m seriously excited about this! I really enjoyed the first World War Z. It was a big, intense zombie movie with some fantastic sequences, and watching those massive swarms of zombies climbing over each other like a tidal wave of bodies was wild. The movie had a great sense of scale, and Pitt was great in it.

Getting that movie made wasn’t exactly easy, either. The original World War Z had a notoriously difficult production, including major rewrites and extensive reshoots that resulted in the entire third act being reworked.

Considering all the problems surrounding the production, it’s impressive that the finished movie turned out as well as it did. It went on to earn more than $540 million worldwide and became Pitt’s biggest box office hit at the time.

The film was based on Max Brooks’ bestselling 2006 novel, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, although the movie took the material in a very different direction.

You’d think that kind of box office success would have made a sequel relatively straightforward. Nope. The road to World War Z 2 has been even longer.

Pitt has been trying to make this movie for more than a decade. One of the most exciting versions would have reunited him with longtime collaborator David Fincher, who came close to directing. I would have loved to see what Fincher could have done with a massive zombie movie starring Pitt, but budget issues ultimately killed that incarnation and Fincher walked away.

The sequel went back into development limbo, but Pitt apparently never gave up on getting it made. Things finally started moving again last summer when Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg became Co-Chairs of Paramount Pictures.

The studio made World War Z 2 a high-priority project and confirmed at CinemaCon in Las Vegas that it wanted to get the sequel made. Skydance also played a major role in getting the original film off the ground, and founder David Ellison shares Pitt’s desire to continue the franchise.

Now Pitt has found his director. Pitt and Berger recently wrapped production on A24 and Scott Free’s The Riders, and the two apparently had such a good experience working together that they were already looking for another project to tackle. Pitt reportedly began pitching Berger on World War Z 2 early during production and felt he would be perfect for it.

By the time The Riders finished shooting, Berger was on board. Paramount has since closed deals with both Pitt and Berger to move forward with the sequel.

Dennis Kelly is writing the screenplay, while Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner will produce through Plan B Entertainment. Berger will executive produce. As for what Gerry Lane will be dealing with this time around, those details are being kept secret.

The project also continues Pitt’s relationship with Paramount. He’ll next appear in the survival thriller Heart of the Beast, which reunites him with his Fury director David Ayer, and he’ll also be seen later this year in Netflix’s The Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth.

After everything the first World War Z went through just to make it into theaters, it’s fitting that the sequel has endured its own marathon journey. Still, it’s been more than a decade! I honestly reached the point where I figured World War Z 2 was one of those movies we’d keep hearing about every few years without ever actually seeing it happen.

I’m glad they never completely gave up on World War Z 2, because there’s a lot more that can be done with this world. I had a blast with the first movie, and after this insanely long road to a sequel, I’m excited to see what Pitt and Berger ultimately deliver.

Source: Deadline