Brad Pitt is set to return as star and producer of a World War Z sequel, with The Impossible director Juan Antonio Bayona set to direct.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news of Bayona’s involvement, although little else is known about the details surrounding the sequel. With Pitt set to return and produce through his Plan B banner, one can assume the film will follow his Gerry Lane character after the events that took place in Wales towards the end of World War Z. What these will be, remains to be seen.
With no screenwriter currently announced for the project, the film still appears to be a ways off, although the report notes that Bayona will work with whoever is brought on to write the script. Bayona, who helmed the excellent Spanish horror film The Orphanage before The Impossble, certainly has the directing chops for such a big budget feature.
After the difficulties in production surrounding World War Z, including Pitt and director Marc Forster butting heads, the film was still a financial and critical success, so Paramount and company will certainly have their hopes high with such a touted director now on board.
For those unfamiliar with World War Z, the film was based loosely on the Max Brooks book of the same name, and followed former U.N. worker Gerry Lane (Pitt) as he raced across the globe to find answers and a solution for a global zombie pandemic.
Bayona’s The Impossible was a recounting of a family’s experience in the 2004 Indonesian tsunami and earned $180 million worldwide, as well as an Oscar nomination for Naomi Watts.