By Josh Tarpley After months of rumors and speculation, official reports have come out that David Fincher will be directing the sequel to 2013’s “World War Z.” The project would mark the fourth collaboration between Fincher and Brad Pitt (“Se7en,” “Fight Club,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”), and the zombie sequel marks Fincher’s first real foray into the world of blockbusters.
Click beyond the jump to read more about the untitled “World War Z” sequel The first “World War Z” film went through it’s own share of publicized development trouble. Before “Rogue One” or “Suicide Squad” became (in)famous for their reshoots, director Marc Forster and company ended up bringing in “The Martian” screenwriter Drew Goddard to help completely rework the ending of the first film. The production came back for some more-than-standard reshoots and shot a completely different third act than was originally envisioned.
After all of that, the film was released in Summer 2013 to some mild success critically (67% on Rotten Tomatoes) and financially ($540 million worldwide). The film didn’t bomb (as some expected), and Brad Pitt was still a believer in the franchise, it made sense a sequel would begin its development. Over the past four years Pitt has been courting directors to no success, with Paramount taking it off the calendar at one point. Since early reports last year though, the dream for many cinephiles would be that David Fincher would break into the blockbuster game and it looks like it is actually happening.
If it were any other director known for dramas signing on to this movie, we would be worried. How many times have we heard about the talented director believing in a project and signing the dotted line, only to found out the “studio system” all but ruins the shooting production or cuts an entirely different film in post. That worry is not present with “World War Z 2.”
For better or for worse, Fincher is a “final cut” director in every sense of the phrase. If he wants to do 99 takes for a single scene, he does it. If he wants his film presented to the public a certain way, he gets actively involved with the marketing and cutting of trailers. One only needs to look at “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” or “Gone Girl” to see that Fincher makes the movies he wants to make. These are deliberately paced films that take their time crafting beautiful shots and strong character development.
All of that being said, what are we to make of David Fincher making a zombie blockbuster? We found out earlier this year that Fincher was actually interested in the project for creative reasons and that Pitt had been courting him for some time now. With Pitt’s passion and the high level of efficiency we’ve come to expect from a Fincher production, out of nowhere “World War Z 2” might have just become the most anticipated blockbuster in some time.
Per Variety, if everything goes according to plan, the film will start production early 2018, so I have to ask: what do you all think of David Fincher taking on the “World War Z” sequel? Let us know in the comments below!
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