Remember all the troubles World War Z had during production? Soaring budget, on-the-fly rewrites, a radically altered ending? That thing had some problems, huh? Well, its successor won’t have those problems...because it’s been officially canceled. 

The Playlist  says Paramount has put a bullet in the head of the long-in-development World War Z sequel, which was to once again star Brad Pitt and this time directed by David Fincher. That’s right, our one and only chance at seeing a David Fincher zombie movie is gone. That seriously sucks. 

There were many delays on the project, it was originally scheduled to be released years ago. But pre-production and location scouting were supposedly ramping up. So what happened? It seems the costs were just too high. Fincher was willing to sacrifice some budget (!!!) and make the film for less than $190 million (far cheaper than the reported $250 million budget of the first World War Z) but it was still too much for Paramount. The studio wouldn’t commit and seemed lukewarm on the film so people close to the production can’t be surprised based on Paramount’s lack of enthusiasm. 

Pitt seemed very gung-ho about the project so I’m sure he’s handsomely bummed. And any Fincher or zombie movie fan will also be disappointed to learn that they won’t be getting World War Z 2 (or whatever it was going to be called) but we also can’t really blame Paramount for taking a pass on an expensive, R-rated sequel to a five-year-old movie that only got so-so reviews. 

There’s a chance the movie still lives. Much like a zombie, it may rise from the dead and find a new director, affordable budget and more amiable Paramount in the future. That would be a good thing because the first World War Z had a lot of issues but also had a lot going for it. I don’t think a sequel is a bad thing and I definitely don’t think a sequel directed by David Fincher is a bad thing. It’s a shame it didn’t come together this time but perhaps, someday, it will.