As such, World War Z 2 is back on track with writer Dennis Kelly, creator of the British TV show Utopia, set to pen the script. An earlier draft, written by Burnt’s Steven Knight, will serve as a foundation for Kelly to work from.
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The studio took such a firm move amid reports that Bayona was considering jumping ship to replace director Colin Trevorrow on the follow-up to Jurassic World, this year’s highest-grossing film.
Per the report, Bayona has a holding deal from Paramount for World War Z 2, however his involvement could be on “thin ice” after he was approached about the Jurassic Park sequel. More than one writer working on a tentpole script is nothing new, but this intel has a bit of extra sauce on it. The trade reveals that director J.A. Bayona (“The Impossible”) was actually courted to helm the “Jurassic World” sequel over at Universal. Skydance Productions is co-producing and co-financing the project.
World War Z 2 is scheduled for release on June 9, 2017.
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Brad Pitt will return to star in the sequel and is also producing with Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Ian Bryce. David Fincher and Gillian Flynn were collaborating on a USA remake of the series for HBO, but that fell apart over budget issues (HBO still owns the US remake rights).
