WORLD WAR Z 2 is Moving Forward With … |

World War Z 2 is Moving Forward With …

… Brad Pitt. This project will be next on the actor’s busy work schedule.

Pitt’s Heart of the Beast is releasing this week, is also from Paramount, and reviews / word of mouth on that film are stellar. We knew that Paramount was pressing forward on WWZ 2, but we didn’t have any other details, until now.

The Recap

I previously wrote about WWZ 2 here, where I said this:

The original, based on the novel by Max Brooks, earned $540 million USD at the global box office and was a massive hit for Brad Pitt. It’s now been thirteen years since its release, and a sequel is (finally) on the way. This follows a previous attempt by David Fincher (Zodiac, Seven) to bring another WWZ film to life, which Paramount ultimately cancelled.

I enjoyed the first very much. The action was intense as the zombies were of the fast-moving, deadly rotting-flesh-living-dead-on-a-mission-to-violently-kill variety. The initial scenes of the first outbreak in the States was edge-of-the-seat visceral and gripping action, and the excitement carried over to South Korea, Israel, and then to the United Kingdom, unveiling bits of the mystery along the way. The movie did have its naysayers, as it wasn’t exactly true to the book — which is more of a survival guide than a work of narrative fiction — but WWZ delivered everything it offered.

The story logline for World War Z, from IMDB:

Former United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop a zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatens to destroy humanity itself.

The sequel will presumably follow Gerry as he attempts to cure the world of zombies.

The News

Here’s the news, and it’s official:

Brad Pitt will be returning and also producing
A director has signed on: Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front, Conclave)
The credited writers are Dennis Kelly (Utopia), Max Brooks (World War Z, book)

The source is Variety.

Pitt just finished filming The Riders, which Edward Berger also directed. Clearly the two worked well together, and as producer, I’m sure Pitt had a major say in the chosen director for this project. As an aside, because, hey — that’s what I do! — I have watched Conclave twice and found it to be riveting tension and mystery, and this in a film that about priests locked in a cathedral talking about who will be the next pope! It was a gripping story and extremely well told. Kudos to Berger.

As more news arrives about World War Z 2, I’ll post it here at Life After Gateway. Watch this space. In the meantime, enjoy this scene from the first WWZ, which features the “Over the Wall” sequence in Israel. Credit to YouTube channel Movieclips.

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A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 25 September 2026

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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel

“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop

“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite

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“A priority selection. An action-packed story that is hard to put down. A Blanket of Steel is outstanding.” — D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest

“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels

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A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!

WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.

Book Cover & Jacket Copy:

AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!

A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …

Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.

Taunting him.

Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.

If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.

But the assassin could be anyone …

Watch your back, Mac.

A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:

The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007