Why, oh why is David Fincher slated for World War Z 2?

I mean the obvious answer is money but let’s deep dive anyway.

It’s one of the strangest pairings in a while. The first film, directed by Marc Forster, (Quantum of Solace, Finding Neverland), and starring Brad Pitt, split critics and cost a lot of money. Fans of the book reviled at the changes from the novel.

Then, David Fincher enters the picture.

This man has an interesting relationship with franchises. Famously he had such a bad experience with his debut feature Alien 3 that he nearly swore off feature filmmaking for life. He would go on to have underwhelming box office with his next franchise attempt The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Then in 1995 we saw Se7en which revitalised his career, starring Brad Pitt.

David Fincher’s most well-loved film is Fight Club in which Nietzschean Ubermensch Tyler Durden is searingly rendered by Pitt. In Fincher’s most Oscar nominated film to date, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, all the Benjamins are played by Pitt. He had played some of Fincher’s most memorable characters and owes a lot of his career to Fincher.

This choice might be for the money, but Fincher’s still probably rolling in the House of Cards dollars. What might be more likely is that after Pitt fought for the now iconic ending of Se7en for David, and after the past disappointments of franchise, Fincher might see this as finally his last chance to break into mainstream and gain Nolanesque, levels of budget and creative control with his typically dark sensibilities, and a star he trusts. There is a possibility that this could be his The Dark Knight.

James Selway

Image courtesy of Paramount