Marc Forster Won't Return for 'World War Z' Sequel; Brad Pitt to Produce David Fincher's 'Black Hole'

It's been a year of highs and lows for Brad Pitt's Plan B production shingle, although everything seems to have come up roses in the end. The problems faced by the studio and director Marc Forster making World War Z are well-documented, and the film rolled into theaters under a cloud of inevitable failure. But it was Pitt and crew who ended up with the last laugh as the zombie film became a global smash, bringing in over $500M and beginning talk of a sequel.

That sequel will have to move forward without Forster, according to a THR piece about Plan B's future slate. There are no hard and fast explanations as to why, but it's not too hard to figure out. On-set clashes regarding the direction and the oft-rewritten script were rumored for months, leading to reshoots and lengthy delays. As for how far along the sequel might be, Pitt gives the impression that things are in the very early stages....

Pitt: "We are talking about it. We are going to investigate a script. We have a lot of ideas we will cull from. Nobody is writing just yet, but we are compiling our ideas."

Having also produced the festival hit and Oscar-favorite 12 Years A Slave, which has Pitt as a co-star, Plan B is now moving forward on other high-profile projects. One that should excite cinephiles and comic book fans alike is the long-developing adaptation of Charles Burns' graphic novel, Black Hole. David Fincher was the last to be attached to helm the project, which at one point had Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman  penning the script. They eventually left due it looking like the film would never get made, and they appeared to be right as it drifted into limbo for the last five years. Fincher also withdrew his name in order to focus his energies on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

But now Plan B is reviving it with Fincher back on board. Published between 1995-2005, the 1970s-set story follows a group of Seattle teens who contract an incurable sexually-transmitted disease known as "The Bug" that causes severe physical mutations. There aren't any details on how far Fincher is with the production but it's doubtful we'll see anything happen until the situation surrounding sequels to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo are resolved. If you're curious about how a big screen take on Black Hole could look, Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) put together a short film as a pitch to direct it a couple of years ago. You can check that out here.