It has been rumoured for a while that Brad Pitt had been circling his friend and frequent collaborator David Fincher to direct the in the works sequel to World War Z, but now Collider is reporting that the rumour has merit and that there have been at least the start of talks to get Fincher on board.
Originally set up with director J.A Bayona on board, Bayona left the project last year citing “creative differences” and promptly got gobbled up by Jurassic World 2. So the poor Z team was left floundering a bit, but this news could be the shot of adrenaline that the project needs to finally get in front of the cameras.
Fincher is a personal favourite of mine, I’ve loved everything he’s done (yes, I even liked aspects of Alien 3) but he’s never really done an out and out blockbuster, so this would be a great change of pace and an exciting use of his talents.
Collider spoke with Skydance Media CEO David Ellison at SXSW and he was hopeful it’ll all pan out, saying:
“There’s a script that we’re incredibly happy with, and it’s just getting a couple of key deals closed… We hope [Fincher] makes the movie.”
The original had its own tortured production history, famously requiring an 11th-hour last act rewrite and reshoot which had people thinking the worst. All the worrying was for nought, however, as original director Marc Foster turned in a taught, suspenseful zombie actioner that seemed to clearly benefit from the last minute tinkering. The movie was no slouch at the box office either, ringing up over $540 million worldwide.
This news would instantly make this sequel a must watch event for me, so I echo Ellison’s feelings and really hope that Fincher decides to take this on. What do you guys think?