A few months ago the sequel to the 2013 hit had been given up for, well, dead.
Paramount had originally projected a Summer 2017 release for the movie but with no sign of production starting it seemed that it had been buried. Its removal from schedules in February was seen as confirmation.
However, there seems to be undead life in the franchise, after all.
A new report in Variety says that production is expected to start early next year with Pitt still attached and an A-list director at the helm.
Back in December 2013 Juan Antonio Bayona was announced as the director for a sequel with a US release date of June 9, 2017.
Bayona’s exit in January 2016 was followed by rumours last August that legendary director David Fincher was interested. Although he rarely does blockbusters, apart from the ill-fated Alien 3, he had worked previously with Pitt on Se7en and Fight Club.
Half a year later, it appears that Fincher really is about to sign on.
Fincher’s last big screen outing was 2014’s Gone Girl with Ben Affleck.
The respected director has been concentrating on television, after developing the sci-fi show Mindhunters for Netflix. A second season has already been commissioned before the first has hit screens.
Industry insider now expect that the long-awaited World War Z sequel might finally stagger into cinemas in summer 2109.
The original World War Z, itself, had a laboured road to the big screen, with numerous delays and considerable rumours of rewrites and disputes.
However, when it finally arrived, it surprised critics and pulled in a very strong $ 540million at the global box office to become the most successful zombie film of all time.
World War Z remains Brad Pitt’s most successful movie at the US box office and the only one to take more than half a billion dollars worldwide. After a disatrous result for the recent Allied, he will be keen to restore his clout with a blockbuster hit.