In spite of the much publicized problems dogging the filming of Paramount’s epic zombie pic World War Z, the film surprisingly turned out to be a hit at the box office. Star Brad Pitt and his Plan B production shingle had always planned for there to be a sequel to the film. The production has signed Juan Antonio Bayona (The Impossible, The Orphanage) to direct the sequel to World War Z. Read on for more information.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Juan Antonio Bayona, who last directed 2012’s tsunami drama The Impossible, has signed a deal to direct the sequel to Paramount and Skydance Productions’ World War Z.
World War Z starred Brad Pitt as a United Nations employee who travels the world as he tries to stop a zombie plague, all the while trying to communicate with his family. The movie, helmed by Marc Forster, ended with a cure found and him reunited with his family. The original ending, however, was more sequel-ready, putting his wife in the hands of a cold-hearted army officer as Pitt storms the shores of America, cutting through a zombie horde as his reunification journey really begins.
The Spanish director has shown an ability to juggle scares, drama and big sequences — all of which Z did successfully. Bayona directed the well-regarded Guillermo del Toro-produced ghost story The Orphanage. And Impossible netted star Naomi Watts an Academy Award nomination in a movie that was both tender and jaw-dropping in portraying the real-life tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia in 2004.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
