OK, this is unexpected and not necessarily something you should hold your breath over. David Fincher is apparently in talks to direct Brad Pitt in the “World War Z” sequel, a picture Spanish filmmaker Juan Antonio Bayona was once going to helm (instead he’s doing the “Jurassic World” sequel). According to Variety, Pitt, Paramount and Skydance, the producers of the film, are in talks with whom the trade inexplicably calls “the notoriously tedious filmmaker” (though they’ve since wiped that clean from their copy) David Fincher.
First of all, Brad Pitt tries to get David Fincher to direct everything he’s part of and he’s courted him in the past for many jobs Fincher wouldn’t take. It should be said Fincher’s courted Pitt for roles that he wouldn’t take either. But the trade says while talks were initially lukewarm, evidently negotiations are going forward and Fincher has an offer.
But I’d be shocked if Fincher signed on ultimately. His payday is usually $10 million for each picture and he’s been working on original material or adaptations ever since he fumbled hard with “Alien 3.” Fincher’s had issues with big-budget studio pictures before too. He was set to direct “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea,” but eventually dropped out when the studio wouldn’t budge on his dark version. Additionally, Sony bailed on “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” that Fincher helmed because the picture was too costly and didn’t earn enough theatrically.
It’s very possible Fincher could become attached to the project, but personally, I don’t see it coming to fruition. But Fincher and Pitt have collaborated three times previously on “Se7en,” “Fight Club” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” You can bet if Pitt wasn’t involved he wouldn’t be giving this one a second look.
While Fincher recently helmed the Netflix pilot for “Mind Hunters,” a project he’s producing with Charlize Theron, the filmmaker had a rash of bad luck in television and specifically HBO, a network he presumably won’t be working with any time soon. HBO canceled his adaptation of “Gone Girl” author Gillian Flynn’s “Utopia” and they also nixed his music video world series “Videosynchrazy” midway through shooting (he also had another HBO show in development in conjunction with James Ellroy called “Shakedown” which is likely deader than Dillinger).
Will Fincher direct “World War Z 2” or whatever the picture is eventually called? Variety seems optimistic, but I have serious doubts. [Variety]