Paramount Pictures is moving forward with a sequel to “World War Z,” with Brad Pitt set to star and “Conclave” filmmaker Edward Berger set to direct, TheWrap has learned.
The film marks Pitt’s return to “World War Z” following the 2013 film, which earned more than $540 million at the worldwide box office, making it the highest-grossing zombie film of all time.
British playwright and screenwriter Dennis Kelly (“Matilda the Musical”) will write the script. Plot details are being kept under wraps.
“World War Z” is based on Max Brooks’ bestselling 2006 novel, “World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.” Paramount has been trying to get another “World War Z” movie off the ground for years. The script was finished for the follow-up to the Marc Forster-directed first film that starred Pitt, and it had top talent attached to help at various points, including David Fincher and J. A. Bayona of “The Impossible.”
The first “World War Z” movie also had its share of behind-the-scenes strife, as script doctors Damon Lindelof and Drew Goddard boarded the project late in the game to fix its third act.
In 2019, a source told The Hollywood Reporter that China’s ban on zombie movies was the main reason why the sequel, budgeted at $200 million, never happened. Fincher went on to make “Mindhunter” for Netflix and Bayona signed on to direct “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” instead.
Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner will produce on behalf of Plan B Entertainment. Berger will executive produce.
The film marks a continued collaboration between Pitt and Berger, following “The Riders,” which they filmed earlier this year and is currently in post for A24.
Up next, Pitt will star in Paramount Pictures’ “Heart of the Beast,” directed by David Ayer, in theaters Friday, Sept. 25, as well as “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth.”
Berger is repped by CAA, Range, Casarotto Ramsay & Associates, and Hanson Jacobson. Pitt is repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. Kelly is repped by UTA
