A Brad Pitt Action Movie Has A New Life On Streaming
Brad Pitt's World War Z is currently streaming in Amazon Prime Video's top ten.
One of Brad Pitt’s most underrated projects in his career is finding new life on streaming. According to FlixPatrol, the 2013 Zombie flick World War Z climbed onto Amazon Prime Video‘s Top 10 this week. It also managed to get into Paramount+’s streaming charts, ranking as high as #1 in Bolivia.
World War Z is unlike any zombie project that has come out in the past several years. Based on the 2006 novel of the same name, World War Z follows Brad Pitt’s Gerry Lane, a former United Nations investigator who travels the globe to find a possible cure to combat a zombie pandemic. Pitt’s production company, Plan B Entertainment, secured the film rights to the 2006 novel a year after it was released. The project is known for suffering significant setbacks during post-production.
Re-shoots and other mishaps caused the production budget for World War Z to balloon up to $190 million. Several action scenes involving Brad Pitt were cut from the film. The entire third act reportedly was re-shot, and a scene of Pitt’s character fighting through a swarm of zombies was removed entirely.
Despite all the post-production issues, World War Z still grossed over $540 million worldwide. Critics were mixed about the final product, with some claiming the film was “uneven” and diverged too much from the source material. The Daily Telegraph’s Robbie Collin blamed the post-production issues for the film’s “elaborate uselessness.” After the film’s release, news of a sequel starring Brad Pitt began circulating online; however, the project ran into some issues.
According to a 2012 Los Angeles Times report, filmmaker Marc Foster and Paramount were interested in making a World War Z trilogy. Following the success of the Brad Pitt zombie picture, Paramount announced that it was moving ahead with a sequel. Indie Wire reported on December 2013 that Jurassic World director J.A. Bayona had been tapped to helm the project.
Paramount announced in January 2016 that Bayona had departed from the sequel due to other commitments. Variety later reported in 2016 that the Brad Pitt sequel was eyeing Seven director David Fincher. Filming for the sequel was postponed due to Fincher’s involvement in the television series Mindhunter.
Then in October 2018, producer Dede Gardner claimed the project was heading into production for July 2019. Brad Pitt reportedly was still signed on to reprise his role from the first installment, though there was doubt Fincher was still involved. THR then reported in May 2019 that Paramount wouldn’t greenlight a David Fincher-Brad Pitt World War Z sequel.
A source quoted by THR suggested the Chinese government’s ban on films featuring zombies or ghosts was the sole reason for the project’s cancelation.
After all the drama, the Brad Pitt-led Zombie project is still nowhere to be seen. The actor has since continued work with his production company and starred in numerous other projects, including the most recent Bullet Train. Pitt has also been in the news for being in talks to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Regardless of any plans to expand World War Z, the film still made quite the impact and received many award nominations. In 2013, World War Z earned a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the Satellite Awards. Actress Abigail Hargrove earned a Best Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film nomination for her work as Rachel Lane, the daughter of Brad Pitt’s character.
While it would be interesting to see Brad Pitt return to the World War Z universe, he definitely has more pressing matters to deal with. His ex-wife, Angelina Jolie, has accused him of abusing her and their children. The ex-couple’s drama seemingly involved the FBI.
Brad Pitt, though, isn’t letting his drama get in the way of his love for art. CNN reported on September 2022 that Pitt donated the sculptures he created after his rocky divorce from Angelina Jolie to the Sara Hilden Art Museum in Tampere, Florida. It was the artist debut of Pitt, whose pieces ranged from small to large scale.
World War Z isn’t the only Brad Pitt movie attracting viewers on streaming. Oddly enough, his action project with Angelina Jolie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, has reportedly landed on Netflix and gained much attention. One has to wonder if the interest in these films will spark some ideas from studio executives to continue the franchise. While a Mr. and Mrs. Smith sequel seems unlikely, World War Z 2 may still have a chance.
