It's confirmed - the June 2017 release date for Paramount's "World War Z 2" is not happening. Reports point to 2018 or 2019 as new release schedule for the sequel to the zombie apocalypse blockbuster headlined by Brad Pitt. But why not cancel the movie altogether and rework it as a television series?
The official word from Paramount, according to The Hollywood Reporter, is that WWZ2 will see the light of the day next year at the earliest and work is now underway to put things together. Director David Fincher is now rumored to take charge of the project, which likely Pitt will approve of as the two have collaborated in the past.
And Fincher is very much interested to team up with Pitt anew, the report added.
It's quite obvious that Paramount is moving heaven and earth to make the WWZ2 project happen, notwithstanding the latest setback. The chief motivation is that the original grossed $540 million during its 2013 theater run worldwide and the movie studio rightfully hopes that it has a cash-generating franchise in the making.
UPROXX, however, has something different in mind, convinced perhaps that blockbusters, no matter the tempting possibilities, do not always require sequels on the big screen. So why not a new treatment this time? "Let the sequel die. Then resurrect it as a television series," the report suggested.
And the idea makes sense as the online publication pointed out that AMC's "The Walking Dead" is getting tiresome and Paramount might just have a new way of retelling how humans live with and fight off the plague that is the undead.
A good start for Paramount and Pitt, who will executive produce WWZ2, is to seriously consider the faithful adaptation of the book World War Z as presented by its author Max Brooks, UPROXX added on its report. And from there, things will get interesting.
As opposed to TWD, WWZ as a TV series will certainly offer richer and more compelling dimensions. For one, The Walking Dead so far has been confined within the limits of Georgia. In contrast, both the original film and Brooks presented World War Z's take on the zombie apocalypse playing out not only in the United States but also in South Korea, Israel and more.
If Paramount decides to kill World War Z 2, the replacement TV show will surely get a vast playground to work with, per UPROXX. The carpet-bombing in Russia, the battles in North America, the overrunning of Jerusalem and the list just goes on and on - the point being is the opportunity is just there to finally put to rest The Walking Dead.