The World War Z sequel seems bent on recapturing the behind-the-scenes tension of the original, running through screenwriters and setting a tight timetable for production. And the film has just suffered a serious setback, as Deadline reports director J.A. Bayona (The Impossible) has left over concerns about time constraints, so perhaps the movie’s breakneck schedule wasn’t one of the things he and Brad Pitt discussed when Bayona was hired.
Paramount confirmed the parting of ways in a statement, writing “Bayona is no longer able to make World War Z 2 this year, and it is our ambition to do so. He is a wonderful director and we hope to work with him soon.” It seems the studio remains dead set on releasing the film on June 9, 2017; despite the generous 17 months this allots for shooting and editing the movie (not to mention the various other things involved in filmmaking), Bayona reportedly needed a little latitude with the schedule to wrap up commitments related to his adaptation of A Monster Calls. And with that, the search for a great director with even better listening skills begins anew.