Despite how long it has seemed dead and the various development hells that have wounded it, the corpse of World War Z 2 continues to stalk this earth. The sequel to the 2013 zombie movie is finally on its way (supposedly) and we now know when it will start filming. One of the film's producers, Dede Gardner, revealed that the production start is not that far off, saying:
We're starting to shoot in June.
So, in less than a year cameras will begin rolling on World War Z 2. At this rate the sequel should make it to theaters before World War Z turns 10. Given the various delays that have plagued this movie that doesn't seem too bad in the grand scheme of things.
For a little while it seemed like production might start this year but the busy schedules of the people involved necessitated delays, namely so that Brad Pitt could star in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and director David Fincher could work on the second season of his Netflix show Mindhunter.
Speaking of David Fincher, in Dede Gardner's statement to Variety, she also mentions that the acclaimed director is on board to direct World War Z 2. We've known this for a while but directors and release dates for this movie have been rather fluid over the years so it's awesome to hear that this is still the case. Christopher Robin director Marc Forster directed the first film and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom director J.A. Bayona was attached to the sequel before eventually dropping out.
World War Z's production was an absolute mess, so it was somewhat surprising when the movie turned out to be the success it was, both critically and commercially, earning $540 million worldwide. So even with all the delays and the quite reasonable calls to just pull the plug on World War Z 2, it's hard to not get excited about the possibilities of this film.
This could be one of those rare sequels that is better than the original. David Fincher and Brad Pitt have made magic together before in Se7en, Fight Club and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It is also very rare for Fincher to jump in to an existing franchise but a zombie movie from the acclaimed director is worth buying a ticket for just on those facts alone.
We still don't know exactly what World War Z 2 will be about and what Brad Pitt's Gerry Lane will be up to. There is a lot of untapped material from Max Brooks' novel for them to work with. David Fincher has talked about digging in to the mythology for the sequel so it will be exciting to see where he takes things.
World War Z 2 is a ways off from release, but there are plenty of movies actually coming out next year to get excited about. Check them out in our 2019 release schedule.
