After what seemed like an eternity of being an unspoken truth, World War Z 2 was officially taken off of the 2017 release schedule a couple of days ago, putting the project into somewhat of an uncertain future. What seems less uncertain is the prospects in front of lead actor, and all around consummate professional, Brad Pitt. This is especially true, considering the delay on the still director-less sequel has left Pitt open to possibly board another project in his orbit: the sci-fi space drama Ad Astra.
Deadline reported that Pitt is possibly looking at James Gray's tale of a "slightly autistic space engineer" and his journey past the Earth's surly bonds. This quest is all in the name of science, as Roy McBride, our lead character, is trying to figure out why his dad's mission to find proof of life in the stars en route to Neptune went amiss. While World War Z 2 is currently being held up by Paramount's reluctance to pull the trigger on an official greenlight, as well as the fact that it still needs to land David Fincher officially if it wants to keep him, all that's holding Ad Astra up at the moment is budgetary concerns.
The film sounds like an interesting blend of some rather well-known space films, particularly Contact and Interstellar, and seeing Brad Pitt return to the world of sci-fi is almost always a treat. Come to think of it, in the short synopsis that Ad Astra has to describe itself with, it's already proven that it'd be a better fit for Pitt's talents than a return to World War Z 2 could ever dream of being. Then again, if David Fincher gets an official greenlight to make the earth zombified again, and with a hopefully R-rated option, that opinion could always change.
With the horror genre stuck in neutral over at Paramount, partially in thanks to their cancellation of the long suffering Friday The 13th reboot, it wouldn't be a total shock if World War Z 2 gets cancelled altogether. The studio is in need of sure-fire hits, and with the Transformers franchise looking to branch out, World War Z 2's potential production budget could be parlayed into another Autobot / Decepticon showdown. Of course, this is all speculation, but considering how lucky the studio was that World War Z ended up hitting, it'd probably be a good time to take their money off this particular marker, and walk away a little bit wiser.
While there's no official production start set, as well as no confirmation as to whether Brad Pitt will be starring or not, Ad Astra looks to play among the stars with a prospective shooting window being eyed for this summer. If anything changes, you'll be the first to know thanks to us here at CinemaBlend!
