David Fincher is in talks to direct Brad Pitt in a sequel to the 2013 zombie thriller World War Z.
According to Variety, Pitt is courting the Gone Girl film-maker after The Orphanage director JA Bayona left the project to take on the sequel to Jurassic World. The film would mark the pair’s fourth collaboration after previously working together on Seven, Fight Club and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Pitt, who will star in and produce World War Z 2, has reportedly met with a number of directors but talks have been advancing with Fincher, despite his weariness over sequels after the troubled production of Alien 3.
Fincher’s last film was 2014 thriller Gone Girl which became his most profitable movie to date, making $369m (£284m) worldwide. He has also recently shot the pilot for Netflix series Mindhunter, produced by Charlize Theron. It focuses on two FBI agents in the 1970s who use convicted serial killers to help them with ongoing cases.
World War Z suffered from a difficult production period, with drastic reshoots and rumours of on-set problems between Pitt and director Mark Forster. Despite delays, the film was a hit, making $540m worldwide.
Pitt will next be seen opposite Marion Cotillard in Robert Zemeckis’s second world war thriller Allied and in Animal Kingdom director David Michôd’s Netflix comedy War Machine.
