Truly Disturbing Reason Why We Are Never Getting World War Z 2
World War Z was a unique zombie movie in many ways, including how nightmarish its production was.
The 2013 film World War Z, based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Max Brooks (although it took considerable liberties with the source material), was a rather unique entry in the zombie horror genre due to its large scale production and big budget.
It followed Gerry Lane, portrayed by Brad Pitt, a former United Nations investigator who was searching for a way to stop the infection that turned people into flesh-hungry zombies.
In search of the cure, Gerry went on a journey around the world, including the United States, South Korea, Israel, and Wales, which allowed viewers to see how the pandemic affected different countries around the world, in stark contrast to many other zombie movies, which are mainly set in the U.S.
Although the film received moderately warm reviews and became a financial success, even a decade later the sequel has yet to be made, which may be due to how disastrous the production of the original film was.
Even before filming began, there were problems when Michael Straczynski's draft of the script was leaked in 2008.
In addition, Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster, who later joined the production, didn't see eye to eye with the screenwriter (via Collider).
He wanted a more action-packed movie, as opposed to Straczynski's more grounded vision, which led to several rewrites and Michael's departure from the project (either voluntarily or not exactly, according to various sources).
Matthew Michael Carnahan took his place and managed to finish the script at the very last moment before shooting began in 2011.
Unfortunately, the problems didn't end there, as the massive scale of the film led to massive costume and extra expenses, logistical complications that included moving sets, and shooting delays.
Internal conflicts exacerbated the situation, resulting in visual effects supervisor John Nelson leaving the production after principal photography was completed due to creative differences with the director.
It all culminated with a Hungarian SWAT team raiding the warehouse where the supposedly prop weapons used in the film were stored.
They turned out to be very real and fully functional, resulting in the threat of criminal charges, but they were eventually returned to the production team with no legal repercussions.
The final action scene was supposed to be set in Russia and filmed in Budapest, and at least some footage was actually shot, but Damon Lindelof, who joined the production earlier, suggested changing the ending, which led to it being scrapped.
Considering all of the above, as well as the ending of the movie, the chances of ever getting a sequel to World War Z seem extremely slim, even though some fans would have loved to see it.
Source: Collider