Last month, Paramount officially took the sequel to “World War Z” off their calendar for 2017, but it was merely a formality. The project seems to have been stalled for ages, unable to find a director (J.A. Bayona was initially attached, but exited to make the followup to “Jurassic World” instead), and Paramount, perhaps not eager to repeat the fiasco that befell the troubled production of the first film which had to undergo extensive reshoots, are taking their time to put the pieces in place. And one talent they’re still hoping to nab is David Fincher.
As you’ll recall, it was recently reported that the filmmaker was interested in the gig, but Paramount was being patient in making a decision. Fincher reteaming with his old pal Brad Pitt — who’s he worked with on “Seven,” “Fight Club,” and “The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button” — makes a lot of sense, but again, there doesn’t seem to be any great urgency to get them back together.
Collider caught up with Skydance CEO David Ellison who provided an update on the sequel. “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,” he said.
It’ll be interesting to see if Skydance and Paramount can indeed land Fincher. The director tends to want much more control than most on projects, including weighing in on the marketing (it’s one of the many reasons why he clashed with Sony over “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo,” and primarily why he isn’t returning for “The Girl In The Spider’s Web“). However, the studio may not mind letting Fincher run the show, if it means a much smoother production than the first film, not to mention the kind of first rate actor/director pairing you don’t get with most blockbusters. And while 2018 has been tossed around as a potential release date, I think 2019 is probably more likely at the rate all of this is going.
Thoughts? Let us know below.