World War Z 2 is absolutely happening; it's just taking Brad Pitt and Co. a bit longer to get it going. And perhaps that's a good idea to take some time given the problematic shoot they had previously. J.A. Bayona (The Impossible) has been brought on direct, and Steven Knight wrote the first draft of the screenplay. But it looks like some more work needs to be done as a new writer has come aboard, while Bayona finds he's quite the in-demand filmmaker.
According to a piece in THR, Dennis Kelly (Utopia) has been brought on to take a pass at the script. This was all spurred on by Bayona being approached by Universal to direct Jurassic World 2, although he ultimately couldn't go anywhere due to his contractual obligations. Still, it forced Paramount to get moving in order to keep Bayona in place and happy. You may recall that one of the major issues they had with the last film was the script's final act, and it led to some very costly reshoots that also caused numerous delays.
World War Z 2 is set for June 9th 2017, which means production should begin probably early next year.
