‘World War Z’ Sequel Budgetary Concerns Bring Pre-Production To A Halt

Paramount Pictures has reportedly pulled the plug on the sequel for the 2013 hit zombie outbreak film “World War Z.”

Sources familiar with the matter exclusively disclosed to the Playlist on Wednesday that the studio decided to halt pre-production on “World War Z 2” despite the strong anticipation for the follow-up.

The reason? Budgetary concerns. Apparently, director David Fincher and his team proposed a budget that’s just a little less than the $190 million spent on the first movie. However, Paramount isn’t really willing to spend as much on the project even thought it allotted huge budgets for the “Mission Impossible 7” and “8” movies that are slated for release in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Paramount and Plan B Entertainment, the production company of Brad Pitt, who starred in the original film and is toplining the sequel, began to make some calls to the project’s crew Wednesday morning to inform them about the decision, the Hollywood Reporter has learned.

When the story first broke it wasn’t clear if the project is getting another shot at resuming development, or if it has been shelved indefinitely by the higher-ups. However, an insider has since come forward and told the Wrap that work on the project will likely continue.

This would be the fourth time that Fincher and Pitt are collaborating. They previously worked together on “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Fight Club” and “Se7en.”

The “World War Z” sequel was previously pegged for a 2017 release window since work on the project was put into motion shortly after the success of the original film, which grossed $540 million at the worldwide box office.

However, several issues plagued the project and its potential release date was then moved to either 2018 or the summer of 2019. J.A. Bayona of “A Monster Calls” fame was the first helmer on board for the second installment, but then he left in 2016 to direct “Jurassic World 2” for Universal Pictures.

From the looks of things, it would take some time before an official release date for the sequel could be announced should the project resume. Fincher is currently busy with the second season of “Mindhunter” for Netflix.

“World War Z” is the movie adaptation of the Max Brooks novel of the same name.