If there's ever an award given out for "Most Difficult Sequel To Get Into Production," World War Z 2 is surely a candidate for such a dubious honor. With its planned 2017 release date vacated at the last minute, and everything from the script to the director's chair undergoing radical changes, there's probably very little of a movie to be fretting over at this point. And yet, Paramount and the producers behind the film really want this movie to happen, so an update has been given as to where the project's currently at.
Producer David Ellison said as much when he sat down with Collider at SXSW to talk about his latest film, Life, as well as the untimely removal of World War Z 2 from this year's schedule. His status update on the project is rather hopeful, as he says the project is in the following state of readiness:
There's a script that we're incredibly happy with, and it's just getting a couple of key deals closed... We hope [David Fincher] makes the movie.
So the good news is that World War Z 2 has a script that the studio, and presumably star Brad Pitt, are happy to put into production. That's a crucial step, and considering that the film had gone this far without giving up on its 2017 release date, it was obvious that the project was having some growing pains. Much like a book report done at the last minute, you really don't want to admit you need to bump the project unless you absolutely have to. But the even better news is the fact that somehow there's still hope that director David Fincher might be convinced to sign onto World War Z 2, reuniting him with Pitt and giving the sequel a chance to really shine.
While World War Z delivered $540 million on a $190 million production budget, it still managed to get under the skin of folks hoping a more book appropriate/R-rated approach. Hiring David Fincher not only brings the prestige of his name attached to the project, it also brings the hopes that his pull can overcome any studio pressure to keep the sequel in the similarly rated wheelhouse. At the very least, one can assume that Fincher will give the script a once over with a writer he chooses, so as to ensure the resulting picture measures up to his high standards. So as excited as David Ellison is for the possibility of a World War Z 2 directed by David Fincher, you can count us even more excited.
World War Z 2 is currently awaiting a director and a script, and it currently does not have a specific release date in mind. However, the film is eyeing a 2018 - 2019 release window, and as soon as we have an update, we'll report back as soon as we know.
