Long-decaying World War Z sequel now looking deader than a zombie

The troubled sequel to a troubled zombie movie has run into yet another roadblock — one that’s stopped it dead in its tracks. World War Z 2, from director David Fincher, has halted pre-production and it’s looking like history may repeat itself for this cursed film franchise.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount has been calling crewmembers on the film telling them work on the film, which was supposed to begin production in Atlanta in the next few months, is stopping.

The sequel to the surprisingly successful Max Brooks adaptation has already faced director changes (from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’s J.A. Bayona to Gone Girl’s David Fincher), schedule delays, and script issues over the near half-decade the film has been planned. Now, it seems budget issues are behind the shutdown.

Looks like Brad Pitt’s Jerry Lane and his undead Earth (or at least Fincher’s vision of them) were too expensive for the studio. While fans expected more setbacks — what are traditions for, if not for continuing? — this has the air of permanency to it.

While it’s unclear if this will kill the film for good, or simply delay it while the studio finds someone to shoot this movie more cheaply, one thing’s clear: World War Z 2 isn’t coming out in 2020. In fact, it may not come out until we're in danger of being overrun by the undead ourselves.