Despite all its problems while in production and a final product that our reviewer deemed a disappointment, ‘World War Z’ was a success. While losing the number one spot at the US box office to ‘Monsters University’, the zombie apocalypse tent pole picture from director Marc Foster and producer/star Brad Pitt took in $66 million domestically and $111.8 million worldwide, making the film adaptation of Max Brooks’ critically acclaimed novel Pitt’s biggest box office opening in his career to date. With success like that, Paramount is certainly happy about their good fortune with this near disaster, so it looks like we’ll be seeing more of Gerry Lane and his family on the big screen.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount will “actively turn to developing a sequel” for ‘World War Z’. Previously, Foster revealed that he had originally envisioned the story to be a trilogy, but after the crew was forced to bring in the likes of Damon Lindelof and Drew Goddard to reconstruct the film’s weak third act and ending, all hope of more installments seemed pretty lost. However, after the surprising opening numbers started pouring in, it appears that the studio had a change of heart. While the film still has a way to go to recoup their $190 million budget, Paramount feels confidant enough that it will, based on their revival of the plans for sequels.
After announcing the news, Paramount Vice Chairman Rob Moore spoke on Pitt behind the scenes and what made the film appealing to audiences:
“The great thing about this process was that it showed what a great partner and producer Brad is. He made a true commitment… I think the movie captured the public’s imagination with something that is fresh and different. And certainly, Brad gave a superb performance.”
In my opinion, the studio may have jumped the gun on this one. I feel as though the public wanted to see what all the hype was about in the movie’s opening weekend, but now that the word is out about ‘World War Z’, the numbers will just drop from here on out. But there are some critics out there who swear up and down that this is a good movie, so it might stand a chance. After all, miracles happen (or souls are sold to the devil) every day in Hollywood, so anything can happen.
What did you think of ‘World War Z’? Do you think that it warrants a sequel or even two sequels to round out a trilogy? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
