Paramount Pictures has officially greenlit a sequel to the 2013 blockbuster World War Z, with Brad Pitt returning to star as Jerry Lane and director Edward Berger attached to helm the project, following years of stalled development and shifting studio priorities.
Paramount Secures Director Edward Berger and Reaches Deal With Brad Pitt
Paramount Pictures has officially closed a deal with Brad Pitt to return to his role as Gerry Lane in the long-discussed follow-up to the zombie thriller World War Z. The studio confirmed the project’s new momentum at CinemaCon 2026, positioning the sequel as a top priority for the company under co-chairpersons Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg, while Skydance and its founder David Ellison also backed the continuation.
Paramount Pictures has officially announced work on a sequel to the cult blockbuster World War Z. Brad Pitt will not only return to his lead role but will also serve as a producer on the project, Deadline reports.
The director’s chair will go to Edward Berger, acclaimed for his work on All Quiet on the Western Front and Conclave, as well as directing episodes of the first season of The Terror. Berger and Pitt recently finished shooting the feature film The Rider, a professional pairing that proved instrumental in bringing the zombie sequel together. According to industry reporting, Pitt repeatedly pitched the project to Berger throughout their recent collaboration, leading the director to agree by the end of production and the studio to finalize both contracts in recent weeks.
The screenplay will be written by Dennis Kelly, known for his work on the television series Utopia, theatrical productions such as Pinocchio and Love and Money, and as the Tony Award-winning librettist of the musical Matilda in 2013. Alongside his starring role, Brad Pitt will serve as a producer alongside Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, with Berger taking on an executive producer credit.
No release date or production start schedule has been announced.
A Decade of Dead Ends and Deferred Ambitions
The path to a sequel has been marked by more than a decade of false starts, with Brad Pitt attempting to launch production on a follow-up for 13 years. Pitt originally wanted to make a follow-up shortly after the release of the first film and spent more than ten years trying to recruit his longtime collaborator David Fincher, with whom he worked on the thrillers Fight Club (1999) and Se7en (1995), as well as the upcoming dramedy Cliff Booth’s Adventures (Nov 25). Those plans nearly materialized, but those initial efforts stalled over budget disagreements, and Fincher eventually stepped away from the project.
Paramount initially planned to shoot a trilogy whose zombie apocalypse atmosphere was intended to reference the television series The Walking Dead, but those expansive plans were set aside during the filming of the original movie. Following the premiere of the first film, Paramount reported preparations to work on a sequel, but production was delayed several times for various reasons. At one point, David Fincher could have taken the director’s chair with filming planned to start in 2018, but Fincher shifted his focus to working on the television series Mindhunter, and a year later the sequel was canceled without a stated reason. A source for The Hollywood Reporter stated that the primary reason was China’s ban on the theatrical release of films about ghosts and zombies.
The original movie grossed more than $540 млн in the worldwide box office following its 2013 release under director Marc Forster and won a Saturn Award as the best thriller. Based on Max Brooks’s 2006 novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, the first installment followed former United Nations employee Jerry Lane as he traveled to find the source of the deadly virus and save humanity.
Where the Story Left Off and What Lies Ahead
Narrative details for the upcoming sequel remain closely guarded, but the climax of the first film provides a potential narrative direction. In the conclusion of the first part, where humanity received a chance at salvation, Jerry might continue his fight against the zombie virus in the new chapter.
With a script penned by Dennis Kelly and a filmmaker known for tense dramas at the helm, the continuation is positioned to explore the ongoing conflict following the initial outbreak centered around the former UN employee.
