Going into its release, it seemed like World War Z was going to tank: Vanity Fair had a hitpiece, the buzz was terrible, and the movie looked like it was mediocre at best. But it turned out to be a pleasant, if uneven, surprise. And Brad Pitt and company are getting the last laugh: World War Z has made a boatload of cash.
Quite a bit, in fact: World War Z has grossed $500 million worldwide, a new record for Pitt and pretty much a middle finger in the face of every naysayer (us included). In fact, World War Z‘s overall success has taken pretty much everyone by surprise, the studio included.
Plans for a sequel are being knocked around, but Pitt is, well, Brad Pitt. He’d rather make Moneyball and Fight Club than Troy and Mr. And Mrs. Smith, the latter of which we’re still not convinced was anything more than an excuse for Pitt to basically drool over his wife and get paid to do it, which, hey, nice work if you can get it.
On the other hand, World War Z has likely managed to make its budget back and will probably do pretty well on home video, which means that Brad Pitt will also probably see an enormous check out of the deal: His production company Plan B handled most of the movie, so a fair chunk of what the movie makes goes straight to Pitt’s pockets. And money does talk.
We hope he lets it lie, though. Realistically, Pitt managed to turn what looked like a bomb into a hit; we’re not sure the material is there to do that twice. Although if he wants to make a 300-style version of the Battle of Yonkers, we’d be amenable.