‘World War Z’ Once Again in Development at Paramount!

Breaking news out of CinemaCon in Las Vegas: Paramount Pictures has revealed it is officially developing a new World War Z film, signaling a revival of the long-dormant zombie franchise. The announcement came during the studio’s ongoing presentation.

The project is still in early development, so it’s unclear whether it will be a sequel, prequel, or standalone story.

Brad Pitt, whose Plan B Entertainment produced the original film, is likely to be involved in the new project in some capacity. However, it remains unclear whether he will reprise his role as former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane or participate strictly behind the scenes as a producer.

Originally released in 2013, World War Z followed Gerry Lane, a former UN investigator tasked with traveling the globe to find the source of a rapidly spreading zombie pandemic threatening to wipe out humanity. Racing against time, Lane journeys from Philadelphia to South Korea, Israel, and beyond, searching for answers as governments collapse and the infection escalates into a full-scale global catastrophe.

The film was a major commercial success, grossing over $540 million worldwide against a production budget of roughly $190 million, making it Brad Pitt’s highest-grossing starring vehicle and one of Paramount’s biggest hits of the decade.

Plans for a World War Z follow-up have repeatedly surfaced – and collapsed – over the past decade. A direct sequel was initially set in motion soon after the original film’s success, with Juan Antonio Bayona attached to direct before departing to work on Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The project later gained significant momentum when David Fincher came aboard, reuniting with Brad Pitt and developing a more grounded, politically driven take on the zombie outbreak. However, despite extensive pre-production, Paramount ultimately pulled the plug in 2019, reportedly due to budget concerns and tightening priorities following corporate restructuring. Since then, the sequel has lingered in development limbo.