After World War Z became a surprise hit (particularly surprising as it had a tortuous production, with much of it needing to be reshot), Paramount was keen to get a sequel made. However that’s proven difficult too, not least because the chosen director, Juan Antonio Bayona, dropped out after being attached to the project for a long time.
Now it seems star/producer has decided who he wants replace the departed Bayona, and he’s aiming high, as his Se7en, Fight Club and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button director David Fincher is in talks for the role. It would be surprising if Fincher does sign on, not least because it’s known he’s wary of sequels, partly because of his experience making Alien3, which ended with him being locked out of the editing room.
However, it seems that talks that were initially lukewarm are now heating up, according to Variety. Fincher’s interest may be due to the fact it’s known he’s interested in making a big, blockbuster type movie, but previous summer tentpole-style projects he’s been attached to have never made out of the starting gate (such as the version of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea he was long attached to).
If he does sign on, he’ll be taking Pitt back to a world where zombies are running riot, and the few human survivors are struggling to survive and maintain some semblance on civilisation. The movie was originally supposed to be in cinemas June 2017, but it’s expected to be delayed.
After World War Z ended up being a bigger hit than most had expected (especially considering the production troubles the film faced), Paramount quickly announced a sequel. However it’s coming together fairly slowly, but not it’s been announced that Steven Knight will write the screenplay, according to 
After the production problems World War Z faced – involving ballooning budgets and expensive reshoots – even Paramount was surprised when it became a $500 million grossing hit. The success ensured they wanted a sequel, but it was also clear from early on they didn’t want director Marc Forster – who many have blamed for the first film’s problems (and who reportedly had an extremely fractious relationship with Brad Pitt).
Going into the summer season, if you’d asked many pundits what they thought would be the biggest box office failure, a lot of people would have gone for World War Z ahead of actual disasters such as Lone Ranger. That was due to massive budget overruns and a disastrous shoot, which went so badly that the entire third act needed to be reshot.
World War Z was always planned as a franchise, but with its troubled production history – including the final third having to be completely reshot – many thought it would be lucky to get past a first movie. However, with the movie taking $66 million at the US box office in its opening weekend (analysts had been predicting about $40 million), and over $100 million in the rest of the world, it’s a strong enough start for Paramount Pictures to reveal they’re already moving forward with a sequel.