Brad Pitt Returning for ‘World War Z’ Sequel at Paramount With Edward Berger to Direct

Brad Pitt will officially return to star in Paramount’s long-awaited sequel to “World War Z.” “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “Conclave” helmer Edward Berger, who recently directed Pitt in “The Riders” for A24, has signed on to direct from a script by Dennis Kelly. Plot details for the sequel are being kept under wraps. Pitt will produce the sequel alongside Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner on behalf of Plan B, with Berger on board as executive producer. The original “World War Z,” based on Max Brooks’ bestselling 2006 novel, “World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War,” made more than $540 million at the global box office. The film, directed by Marc Forster, starred Pitt as Gerry Lane, a former United Nations employee, in a race against time to stop a zombie pandemic. At CinemaCon in April, Paramount announced that a sequel was finally in active development after multiple attempts to get another movie off the ground, including a version from Pitt’s frequent collaborator David Fincher, which was scrapped in 2019. Popular on Variety The “World War Z” update comes amid Pitt’s press tour for his latest Paramount movie, “Heart of the Beast,” in theaters next Friday. The survival thriller, directed by David Ayer, follows a Special Forces officer and his combat dog who, after a devastating plane crash, get stranded deep in the Alaskan wilderness. Pitt will then reprise his Oscar-winning role in Netflix’s “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth,” directed by Fincher from a screenplay by Quentin Tarantino. The movie debuts in Imax theaters globally on Nov. 25, then begins streaming on Dec. 23. Next up is “The Rider,” which Pitt and Berger wrapped filming on earlier this year; the movie is currently in post-production. Pitt is represented by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners; Berger is represented by CAA, Range, Casarotto Ramsay & Associates, and Hanson Jacobson and Kelly is represented by UTA and Davis Law Group. Deadline first reported the update on the sequel’s development.