It is hard to pin down the common consensus on World War Z.
The issues with its production have now become infamous, while the first reactions to its release were mixed. However, the film went on to gross $540 million at the box office from just a $190 million budget, and most moviegoers found it to be hugely entertaining.
Soon enough it was announced that a sequel was on the agenda. But it wasn’t until David Fincher’s name was linked with the director’s chair that cinephiles really became interested in “World War Z 2,” as they started to imagine what the legendary “Se7en,” “Gone Girl,” “Fight Club” and “The Social Network” filmmaker might do with it.
Back in June, 2017, Paramount confirmed that Fincher would be directing the film, then in November Fincher himself told Little White Lies, “We’re trying. A lot of stones have been laid. We’re just deconstructing it right now against the mythology that exists to see where we can go.”
Considering how complicated making a film of this size and budget can be, and how particular David Fincher is as a director, movie lovers have been very cautious about getting overly excited for his take on “World War Z 2,” just in case it all falls apart.
I recently spoke to Graham King, who was the executive producer on “World War Z,” a position he is reprising on the sequel, and I asked him whether David Fincher is still involved.
“That’s the word [laughs]. We will see. I’ve got to get back into LA. I have just been gone shooting for so long. But that’s the last I heard.”
I then asked him for an update on “World War Z 2.”
“It is coming together. It is still in the script stages. I haven’t read it yet. But I hear it is terrific. I am excited to read it.”
They have plenty of time to do just that. Because the very latest speculation from Variety is that “World War Z 2” now won’t start production until the fall, allowing Brad Pitt to shoot Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood,” which means that we probably won’t get to see it until the end of 2019 or 2020 at the earliest.
Fingers crossed that Fincher sticks around to complete the journey.
Meanwhile, you can check out King’s work as a producer on “Tomb Raider” when the video game adaptation is released on March 16, 2018.
