World War Z 2 is dead. It's time to pour one out for the sequel that never was and (probably) never will be. Brad Pitt, who starred in the original 2013 movie adapting author Max Brooks' zombie novel of the same name, has been trying to get the project going for years now and even managed to get his pal and frequent collaborator David Fincher to sign on to direct, which was something of a surprise. Despite all of that effort and lots of hope, Paramount has decided to pull the plug.

According to multiple reports, after months of dragging their feet on the issue without officially giving the movie the green light, Paramount has finally made a decision about World War Z 2. It's just not one that Brad Pitt and likely many moviegoers would like to hear. No one factor is to blame, but there are several elements that contributed to this. One of which relates to the budget. While David Fincher reportedly was aiming to make the sequel for less than the reported $190 million price tag of the first movie, Paramount doesn't make quite as many movies as other major rival studios. So when it comes to their blockbusters, they have to be choosy. In this case, they chose to put the money elsewhere.

Not coincidentally, the studio recently gave the go-ahead to Mission: Impossible 7 and 8, following the success of last summer's Fallout. Those will come at a high cost and they're going to shoot back-to-back for release in 2021 and 2022, respectively. They're also working on several installments of the Transformers franchise, including a Bumblebee sequel and, again, those are pricey to make. As such, World War Z 2 wound up on the cutting room floor.

The hope was that the movie could have possibly begun shooting this summer. They were even tentatively staffing up and locking down possibly shooting locations. Reportedly, Brad Pitt isn't happy about the movie being scrapped, which is understandable. He's poured a lot of time into getting this project going just to see it fall apart. David Fincher, meanwhile, is working on Mindhunter season 2 for Netflix and, by the looks of it, this was going to be his next gig. Now, he's going to have to find something else to occupy his time. Though, that shouldn't be difficult to accomplish.

World War Z was released in 2013 and, following an incredibly troubled production that resulted in massive reshoots, the movie was a pretty reasonable success, earning largely favorable reviews on its way to a very solid $540 million worldwide. With a star like Brad Pitt, and especially with the director of Seven and Fight Club making a big blockbuster sequel for the first time in his career, with a more reasonable budget, it's easy to see where this could have been a winner. Sadly, at least for now, this one needs to be put to rest. This news was first reported by The Playlist.