While Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has helped push developer Saber Interactive to another level, it already had a monster hit under its belt: World War Z.
World War Z is a co-op third-person shooter developed and published by Saber in 2019 as a loosely based adaptation of the 2006 novel World War Z, and set in the same universe as the 2013 Brad Pitt blockbuster.
Saber used its Swarm Engine to render large hordes of zombies in World War Z, and again but with Tyranids in last year’s Space Marine 2. The technology is being used once again for Saber’s 2026 release, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando.
In an interview with IGN at gamescom 2025, Saber development chief Tim Willits said 30 million people had played World War Z since launch, which is a remarkable milestone for any game. But, he thinks its popularity might have influenced some decisions made in Hollywood, too.
Last month, The Hollywood Reporter said Paramount had three franchises it planned to prioritize when it came to movies: Top Gun 3, Star Trek, and World War Z. World War Z was the biggest surprise here, given it’s been over a decade since the movie came out. So why is Paramount interested in making a follow-up?
Enter Saber’s World War Z. Willits said it was his feeling (he hasn’t been told this is the case in an official capacity) that the enduring success of the World War Z video game over the last six years has directly contributed to Paramount’s desire to revive the franchise in movie terms.
“30 million people have played that game. Isn’t that crazy? 30 million unique people,” Willits began. “They have not told me this — I’ll probably get in trouble! — they have not told me this, but maybe IGN put this on Instagram, that there’s talk at Paramount about making another World War Z. Again, they have not told me this, but I’m pretty sure it’s because of that game.
“They have not told me this. I’m guessing!” Willits continued. “30 million people. That’s f***ing ridiculous! I saw that [the Paramount news] and I was like, ‘Oh that’s gotta be us.’”
Of course, this isn’t the first time an effort to make World War Z 2 was started. World War Z was a commercial success upon its release in 2013, grossing over $540 million worldwide at the box office (it was Pitt’s highest-grossing film before the recently released F1 movie overtook it).
Paramount confirmed its plans to make a sequel shortly after, but planning turned patchy after Marc Foster, director of the first film, announced that he would not be returning to helm the second feature.
There was a further shake-up that resulted in David Fincher signing on as J.A. Bayona’s replacement in the director’s chair. However, the sequel never pulled together as Paramount decided to halt pre-production in 2019, reportedly due to budget issues and a lack of momentum, even though production was supposed to begin that year.
In 2023, Fincher likened his scrapped World War Z sequel to HBO’s The Last of Us TV adaptation, saying he was glad his movie didn’t make it beyond pre-production. Fincher told GQ that there were some notable similarities between his Brad Pitt-fronted follow-up film to World War Z and the HBO adaptation of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us, so much so that he was left feeling happy his project never came together because he felt the other had “more real estate” to tackle the same topics.
“It was a little like The Last of Us,” Fincher said, teasing what he had planned for the World War Z sequel. “I’m glad that we didn’t do what we were doing because The Last of Us has a lot more real estate to explore the same stuff. In our title sequence, we were going to use the little parasite… they used it in their title sequence and in that wonderful opening with the Dick Cavett, David Frost-style talk show.”
The question for fans of World War Z the movie is of course whether Pitt would return for a potential sequel, or if Paramount would go for a brand new cast. Meanwhile, any new World War Z movie would clearly benefit Saber’s game, and perhaps spark a conversation about a video game sequel.
“I’m not supposed to say anything, but we have cool stuff to talk about in that game in the future,” is all Willits would tease about World War Z.
We’ve got plenty more from our interview with Willits, including his comments on how a large chunk of fans have “assumptions” about the Warhammer 40,000 universe that are incorrect as a result of the huge success of the game, why delaying Space Marine 2 was the best thing Saber ever did, and vague excitement about Space Marine 3.
Photo by Lars Niki/Corbis via Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
