Paramount's
World War Z, an extremely loose adaptation of Max Brooks's novel, was expected to be a major flop as it geared up for its release last weekend. Production woes plagued the production throughout, most infamously the seven weeks of reshoots last fall in order to fix the third act. Fans of the book were not pleased with the studio's decision to change the narrative structure from an oral history to a generic "race for a cure" storyline and negative buzz was building. Coming to theaters a week after major hit
Man of Steel and the same day as the Pixar film
Monsters University, nobody expected it to do make much money at the box office either. But something funny happened on
World War Z's journey to the bomb shelter. Critics actually gave the film mostly positive reviews (its Rotten Tomatoes score is higher than
Man of Steel's, a discussion for another day) and audiences, interested by the presence of star Brad Pitt and zombies, turned the film into a minor success. Upsetting the Superman reboot and finishing second at the box office,
World War Z made $66 million in its first three days and has now grossed $93.9 million domestically and $139.7 million worldwide. Not bad for a movie that wasn't expected to be competent. Because this is Hollywood, if any movie makes decent cash in the summer months, a sequel is automatically green lit. Paramount has announced their intentions to produce a followup to the apocalyptic thriller now that they know the property has an audience. It's time once again to examine the development from both sides and detail the pros and cons of
World War Z Part 2: Zombie Boogaloo.WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR WORLD WAR Z