An intriguing revelation unfolds as director David Fincher shares that his halted sequel to the 2013 zombie movie, World War Z, had uncanny similarities to the much-acclaimed post-apocalyptic series, The Last of Us.
The original World War Z, featuring Brad Pitt, was planned to have a follow-up, but budgeting constraints led to its cancellation. In a recent interview with GQ, Fincher highlighted the surprising semblance his nipped-in-the-bud World War Z 2 bore to HBO's video game adaptation series. He stated, "Well, it was a bit like The Last of Us." The director known for the cult-favorite Fight Club, further elucidated on the commonalities, stating, "In our title sequence, we were going to use the little parasite… the same as they did in their title sequence, along with that enthralling opening with a talk show reminiscent of the Dick Cavett, David Frost-style."
Both World War Z and The Last of Us center on terrifying narratives where a lethal virus transmutes humans into vicious, unrecognizable creatures, and the responsibility of preventing imminent extinction lies with the remaining survivors. In The Last of Us, the source of the outbreak stems from a rare fungus known as Cordyceps, a brain-infecting parasite. It appears that this exact fungus was the 'parasite' Fincher intended to rotate his sequel's plot around.
Despite this, the famed filmmaker expressed relief that his planned sequel never materialized, claiming the series "has a lot more real estate to explore the same stuff." The Last of Us's first season spanned nine episodes allowing for a deeper exploration of plots which might have been impossible within the confines of a movie’s runtime. A second season is already in the pipeline, but HBO remains tight-lipped about the release date.
Next on Fincher's agenda is his upcoming movie The Killer, starring Michael Fassbender, expected to grace the silver screens on October 27th. As for The Last of Us fans curious about forthcoming developments, stay tuned for the emerging updates on season 2. Meanwhile, if you're on the prowl for more spine-chilling undead stories, delve into our curated list of the top zombie movies.
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