2013’s Brad Pitt-led zombie movie, World War Z, is well-known for suffering numerous production setbacks, including multiple script rewrites, reshoots and scheduling conflicts, so when the film was successful and Paramount announced a sequel, the studio was probably hoping for smoother sailing the second time around. While everything seems to have been going well, Deadline reports that World War Z 2 has lost its director, Juan Antonio Bayona, just a few months before filming is supposed to begin.
Bayona, who helmed the critically acclaimed films The Impossible and The Orphanage, apparently left the project because of “timing.” The director recently finished shooting his latest film, A Monster Calls, and didn’t feel that he had enough time to both fulfil his commitments on that film and adequately prepare for World War Z 2 in time for this summer, which is when Paramount and Plan B Entertainment would like to start production.
Currently, the director’s chair on the sequel is wide open, and considering how the studio is anxious to start production in a few months to meet the film’s June 9th, 2017 release date, expect the job to be taken by somebody else very soon.
Despite production problems, World War Z received decent reviews from critics in 2013 and went on to become a box office smash; the film grossed $540 million on a $190 million budget.
The first draft of the World War Z 2 script was written by Steven Knight (Locke) and later rewritten by Dennis Kelly (Black Sea). Other than Pitt, who will return to play Gerry Lane, no other actors have been confirmed for the sequel yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=vDx6g5ua25E
Originally published January 12, 2016. Updated April 14, 2018.
