Juan Antonio Bayona Exits 'World War Z' Sequel

Well this is too bad.

It's been over two years (December 2013) since Juan Antonio Bayona (The Impossible) was named the director of the World War Z sequel, set for a June 9th, 2017 release and once again starring Brad Pitt.

A couple days ago though, it was reported that Bayona had left the project due to 'other commitments'. Those commitments being Bayona's next film, A Monster Calls, which is currently in post-production and needs time to finish. Filming on the World War Z follow-up is set to shoot this summer and it was determined Bayona could not do both.

The studio behind the project, Paramount, had this to say in a statement:

“Bayona is no longer able to make World War Z 2 this year, and it is our ambition to do so. He is a wonderful director and we hope to work with him soon.”

Paramount - along with Pitt's Plan B production company - are now on the hunt for a director to take on a project that's already been in pre-production with another filmmaker for the past two years along with a script already written and rewritten to completion by Steven Knight and Dennis Kelly, respectively.

Ironically enough, this franchise isn't a stranger to production snags. The first film went through an extensive reshoot, resulting in a brand-new third act and a release date delay from December 2012 to June 2013. It went on to make over $540 million worldwide and was well-received by critics.

Expect a new director to be named in the next month or so. We will keep you posted.

Source: Deadline