‘World War Z’ Sequel Back on With Brad Pitt Returning, Edward Berger Directing

After more than a decade of false starts, Paramount is finally closing in on making a sequel to its surprise 2013 hit World War Z.

Pitt is set to return to topline the feature that also has Edward Berger, the German filmmaker behind All Quiet on the Western Front and Conclave, on board to direct.

Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner will produce via their Plan B Entertainment banner whle Berger will exec produce. Dennis Kelly, who won a Tony for writing the book for Matilda: The Musical and has created several British thriller series, wrote the script.

WWZ is based on Max Brooks’ best-selling 2006 novel, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. Paramount’s version turned the zombie horror movie into a global disaster movie, focused on a former United Nations worker who travels the planet in a mad search for a cure to the zombie outbreak.

The movie, directed by Marc Forster, famously had its third act rewritten and reshot and gave the studio a fair amount of hand-wringing as it watched the budget balloon. But it proved to be a major critical and box office hit, grossing more $540 million at the worldwide box office.

A sequel has been in the works on and off since, including iterations that would have been directed by J.A. Bayona (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) and frequent Pitt collaborator David Fincher. When Skydance took over Paramount in 2025, it made the sequel one of its top priorities.

Pitt already has a working relationship with Berger as the two collaborated on The Riders, a psychological thriller from A24 currently in post-production. The actor next stars in Paramount’s survival drama Heart of the Beast, directed by David Ayer, which opens Sept. 25.

Pitt is repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. Berger is repped by CAA, Range, Casarotto Ramsay & Associates, and Hanson Jacobson. Kelly is repped by UTA.