Directed by Marc Forster and based on the 2006 book World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, World War Z is a zombie apocalyptic action-adventure film. The plot revolves around former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane and his family as they try to survive after the onset of a zombie pandemic. The film premiered on June 2, 2013, and was a commercial success, earning $540.5 million at the global box office against its $190–269 million. If you are wondering whether there will be World War Z 2, this is what we have discovered.
Here’s all we know about World War Z 2 and whether or not it’s coming out.
Is there a World War Z 2 release date?
There is no World War Z 2 release date as the plans for the prospective film was ultimately canceled.
Although World War Z is supposed to be based on Brooks’ novel, the film has very little in common with the source material. As a result, while the novel is a standalone work, director Marc Forster and Paramount Pictures, which handled the distribution of the first film, reportedly envisioned World War Z as a trilogy. J. A. Bayona (The Orphanage) and Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) were attached to the project as director and screenwriter, respectively, at one point.
In August 2016, it was reported that David Fincher (Gone Girl) had come on board to helm the project. World War Z 2 was caught in development limbo for a while before the plans to make it were ultimately scrapped in February 2019. A source reportedly told the Hollywood Reporter that one major reason for the cancellation was the ban on zombie and ghost films implemented by the Chinese government.
In October 2023, Fincher told GQ that his World War Z sequel would have been similar to The Last of Us, the HBO TV adaptation of the video game of the same name. Brad Pitt was supposed to reprise his role as Gerry Lane in the scrapped sequel. In December 2019, Pitt reflected on the project in an interview with Collider. “Ooh…it [the script] was good,” the actor said. “It was really good. We had a really strong story, which [Fincher] shepherded. The things he had planned for it just haven’t been seen before.”
While it seems everyone involvement in the project has moved on since then, Jeremy Kleiner, the Co-President of Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment (one of the production companies behind the first film) indicated in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter in January 2020 that they would like to return to the project at some point in the future, giving the fans hope. “Someday,” the executive said. “We love Max Brooks’ book. We love the universe of it. It doesn’t feel like World War Z is done and over with.”
