The sequel to World War Z, the highest-grossing movie of Brad Pitt’s career, is now in serious trouble. Director Juan Antonio Bayona has left the project abruptly so he can finish up the movie he is currently working on.
As Deadline reported Monday, production was set to start soon so it could hit theaters on June 9, 2017. However, Bayona wanted more time to finish A Monster Calls, which he actually signed on to do after agreeing to make WWZ2.
“Bayona is no longer able to make World War Z 2 this year, and it is our ambition to do so. He is a wonderful director and we hope to work with him soon,” Skydance, which is co-financing WWZ2 with Paramount, told Deadline.
WWZ2 was written by Steven Knight and was recently reworked by Dennis Kelly.
The first film in the series, based on Max Brooks’ novel, was poised to be one of Hollywood’s biggest disasters, but wound up grossing $540 million worldwide. World War Z’s costs reached $200 million because the entire third act was re-shot to give the film an ending with closure. It still left plenty of room for a sequel, though.
Bayona directed The Impossible, which earned Naomi Watts an Oscar nomination. His new film, A Monster Calls, stars Liam Neeson, Felicity Jones and Sigourney Weaver. That movie will be released by Focus Features in October 2016.
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