World War Z was always planned as a franchise, but with its troubled production history – including the final third having to be completely reshot – many thought it would be lucky to get past a first movie.
However, with the movie taking $66 million at the US box office in its opening weekend (analysts had been predicting about $40 million), and over $100 million in the rest of the world, it’s a strong enough start for Paramount Pictures to reveal they’re already moving forward with a sequel.
The studio has not announced whether director Marc Forster will return for the follow-up, but star Brad Pitt will likely return as U.N. employee Gerry Lane, who tries to track down the origins of a worldwide plague in World War Z. The actor revealed last week that he thinks there are plenty more stories from Max Brooks’ original novel to use for a sequel. With reports of trouble between Forster and Pitt, don’t be surprised if a new director is brought in for the sequel.
It’s very early days at the moment, and no writers have been attached to the sequel as yet.