The first World War Z's extensive production problems were well documented, and the developing sequel is now encountering some of its own. Director Juan Antonio Bayona, attached since December 2013, has quit the film just ahead of its summer start date.
According to Deadline the problem is one of timing. Studio Paramount are keen to get World War Z 2 in front of cameras this year, while Bayona still feels commmitted to the post-production and publicity process for his just-completed A Monster Calls.
"Bayona is no longer able to make World War Z 2 this year," goes the studio's official statement, "and it is our ambition to do so. He is a wonderful director and we hope to work with him soon."
Utopia's Dennis Kelly is the most recent writer to take a crack at the screenplay, with the original drafts by Steven Knight (Locke, Eastern Promises). As before, it's sort-of-but-not-really based on the Max Brooks novel;"inspired by" is probably more accurate. Before Kelly's arrival, Bayona was reportedly already considering jumping ship to Jurassic World 2. The speculation is now that he'll grab that gig, which has a looser timetable, after all.
Quite what aspect of the ongoing zombie crisis will make up World War Z 2 isn’t yet clear, but there will now be a scramble to fill the director's chair in order to meet the current release date of June 9, 2017. Bayona's aforementioned A Monster Calls, starring Liam Neeson as a tree sprite, is out in the UK on October 21.